


Something Deep Down Inside Her

by tumblruserpailylove



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: Backstory, Childhood Memories, Death, F/F, Family Drama, Family Secrets, Flashbacks, Humor, Implied/Referenced Sex, Interrupting Wynonna Earp, Love Confessions, Shooting, heavenly beings, horn dogs, sarcastic wynonna
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-10-12
Packaged: 2019-07-10 20:08:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 32,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15956591
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tumblruserpailylove/pseuds/tumblruserpailylove
Summary: Nicole had always wanted to become a cop. After a rough childhood she was more than excited to get a job offer as far away from her hometown as possible.  She should have realized she couldn't run from her past forever. As she starts to come to terms with what happened in the life she left behind she starts to uncover secrets the led her to where she was meant to be.I wrote this after 2x03 when we didn't have any details about Nicole or her past.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> (an older fic I am just moving over here)

“Just be a good cop. It matters.”

 

The words swirled around Nicole’s head as she stared mindlessly at the badge in her hand. It had been a hard day, maybe one of the worst since arriving in Purgatory, and she wanted nothing more than to put it behind her and move on. She was good at that. At least she liked to think so. She had put things behind her and moved on like they hadn’t happened more times than she could possibly count in her life. This day would be another time. But the words Nedley had spoken to her wouldn’t leave her. They were, after all, the very basis of how she lived her life. Her mantra. Her motto. At least he understood.

 

Her thoughts were broken up by the soft ding from her phone as a message came in. She sighed where she laid sprawled out on her couch, head on one arm rest, feet dangling off the other one, and turned her head to where her phone sat on her coffee table. She had forgotten to silence it after her shower. Whenever she had a rough day she liked a hot shower and some alone time. She must have been so distracted by her thoughts that she had simply forgotten the small detail of silence in her alone time.

 

She didn’t have to check her phone, she knew who it was. It was the same person who had texted her throughout her shower. It was the same person who had left four voicemails in an hour. She shook her head and closed her eyes for a second to center herself. It wasn’t Waverly’s fault. She needed to remember that. All of this was new to the girl and she was adjusting. Plus she had just lost a sister and found out she might not actually be an Earp at all. She had been through a lot. At least, that’s what Nicole kept telling herself even though something deep down inside kept saying something was wrong. She needed to listen to that part of her more. You would think she would have learned that lesson by now, considering her past.

 

When the ding went off again, Nicole opened her eyes and sat up on her couch. She reached for her phone and as she opened the messages to read them, a frown came to her lips. She chewed the inside of her cheeks as her eyes scanned each word carefully. This was the Waverly she had grown to know and cherish. She felt bad keeping her at arm’s length but after the day she had she wasn’t so sure she could see her without being at least a little grumpy toward her. She had, after all, mauled her in front of the entire town, in uniform, on duty. Not that she was ashamed of who she was but there was a line she didn’t like crossing. Work was work. Everything else wasn’t anyone’s business but her own.

 

“Can we talk tomorrow, Waves? I’m pretty exhausted and sore from earlier today” She tapped away at her phone to put together the message. She hesitated a moment then pressed send. Hopefully it was sweet, loving, caring Waverly on the other end of that message and not whatever else seemed to have moved in to take over every now and then. 

 

The response was quick, but sweet, and Nicole smiled. It was her Waverly. Now she almost wanted her to come over. But she resisted. Instead, she laid back on her couch, kicked her feet out in front of her, and held the badge she had been staring at up so she could look at it again. Her thumb passed over the name of the town etched into it and a soft sigh left her lips. Though the badge she held had no power any more, as she was no longer employed at that particular department, it still held a lot of sentiment. She could remember the day she had been given it as if it were yesterday.

 

_ “Who is that guy over there?” Cadet Wilson whispered against Nicole’s ear softly as the Chief of Police droned on endlessly at the podium. _

 

_ Nicole didn’t look. Her eyes were glued to the podium. There was a soft grin on her face and with each word that the man spoke, her heart beat faster and faster. She had made it. She had graduated from the police academy and she was now being sworn in as a police officer in the city that she had grown up in. It had always been her dream, to defend the city where she lived, to protect her neighbors and friends, and now it was becoming a reality. _

 

_ “Haught” Wilson nudged her a few times and when Nicole finally broke her stare with the Chief and whirled her head to glare at the disturbance next to her, the boy pointed to the man he had been asking about a moment earlier “Do you know who that is?” _

 

_ “No” Nicole hissed then lifted her finger to her lips to indicate that he needed to shut his damn mouth because the Chief of police, also known as their soon to be boss, was talking. _

 

_ “You didn’t even look” Wilson said with a roll of his eyes, unphased but Nicole’s hostility. She had always been the most intense in their class. _

 

_ Nicole rolled her eyes and looked back in the direction of the other cadet’s pointing finger for no other reason than to shut him up. There she saw a regular looking older man in a police uniform. It wasn’t the same uniform as the department that they were being sworn into that day but that wasn’t a surprise. Officers and deputies from all over came to things like this. There were officers from numerous departments scattered all about that day. The law enforcement world was small. Everyone seemed to know everyone else. _

 

_ Finally Nicole shrugged and looked back at the boy next to her “Probably a friend of the Chief’s or something. Now be quiet.” _

 

_ “Without further ado-” The Chief’s voice somehow got louder at that moment as he turned and motioned to the row of new police officers behind him “Let the badge ceremony begin!” _

 

Nicole was pulled from the memory of one of the best days of her life as she realized she recognized the man from her memory. There hadn’t been anything outstanding or specific about the man before but now it made so much sense. She smiled very softly and let out a breath of a laugh. Nedley really had been recruiting her for years longer than she had even realized.

 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

 

_ “Nicole, please, we’re family!” The voice was garbled and panicked but the words somehow rang out clear. _

 

_ Nicole shook her head so the man wouldn’t see the tear roll from her eye. She sniffled then cleared her throat. Her stare never wavered. Her gun, which pointed steadily at the man, didn’t tremble. She stood there like a statue as she stared at the man “Put your hands on your head and get to your knees!” _

 

_ “Please” The man begged again. _

 

_ “Get down now!” Nicole yelled out firmly.  _

 

_ The man stood up straight from where he had been slightly huddled over, looking a little pathetic, and gave a shake of his head. He went from looking meek and scared to holding a smirk on his lips and a devious glint in his eyes “What are you gonna do? Shoot me?” _

 

_ “If you don’t get down on your knees right now I wi-” Her words were cut off by the man suddenly turning to run. As if it were a knee jerk reaction, a reflex she had always had, her finger squeezed and a shot was fired. _

 

Nicole shot up in bed with a gasp. Her body was soaked in sweat. She blinked a few times as she pulled in heavy breaths to help calm herself down.

 

“Baby?” Waverly mumbled out softly, having been jolted awake by Nicole’s movements. She sat up and put a hand on Nicole’s back as her brow creased in concern. “What’s wrong? You’re soaking wet.”

 

“Nothing” Nicole shook her head. She licked her lips and realized she was completely parched. She turned and put her feet on the floor as she reached for the bedside lamp on the table. She flipped it on then buried her face in her hands, trying to push the echo of the gunshot away from her mind.

 

“Hey” Waverly scooted closer to Nicole now, a hand lightly rubbing along her back as the other pushed the hair glued by sweat to Nicole’s neck to the side “What is it? You can tell me.”

 

“I’m fine” Nicole shook her head again and stood from the bed. She glanced back at Waverly as she ran her hand back through her messed hair. She tucked a wet strand behind her ear and offered Waverly a crooked, forced smile “I’m going to go get some water. Go back to bed, baby.”

 

Waverly bit her lip and gave Nicole a nod. She had started to learn when to push it and when to give Nicole some space. It had taken some time, in the beginning, to figure each other out but ever since she had gone full horn dog on Nicole while she was on duty they had talked it out and drew some lines. It went against her nature but Waverly was learning sometimes giving someone space to figure it out on their own was a lot better than pushing too far.

 

Nicole offered Waverly a real smile this time then headed out of the bedroom. She tried to be quiet as she crept toward the stairs on her way to the kitchen but the Homestead was about as old as dirt and each step sounded like a wailing cry of pain from the wood below her feet. She held her breath as she passed Wynonna’s room and when there seemed to be no movement she let it out in a puff of relieved air.

 

As she hit the bottom step and headed for the kitchen, she stopped dead in her tracks when she caught the glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye. She reached for her gun, which would have been on her hip if she was wearing it, but it wasn’t there because she was in pajamas. That didn’t stop her from whirling toward whatever she had seen with wide eyes and a chest puffed out in a sign of dominance “Who’s there?”

 

“Relax, Red, it’s just me” Wynonna said with a not so soft laugh stumbling from her lips. She sat on a chair near the door, Peacemaker in one hand, and a bottle of whiskey in the other. She looked at Nicole’s startled state and a smirk came to her lips “So you are able to be scared.”

 

Nicole let out a sigh of relief and relaxed her form. She rolled her eyes and moved into the kitchen “Why are you up so late?” She called out through the opening that led into the living room as she filled a cup with water. The good thing about old houses was that sound carried very well.

 

Wynonna just shrugged. She eyed the bottle she held in her hands and tipped it side to side to watch the whiskey slosh about. She stared at it for a few long moments before her eyes lifted and she was greeted with Nicole standing back in the room. She offered a crooked smile then used the bottle to cheers Nicole from across the room before taking a swig. She swallowed quickly then let the bottle dangle in her hand over the arm of the chair “I don’t sleep much these days.”

 

Nicole frowned at that. As much as she cared for Waverly, she also felt a bond starting to form with Wynonna. It had gotten a little more tense since she had started dating Waverly, but that didn’t mean she didn’t like Wynonna. Hell, she would go as far as to say she cared for her too. “Dolls?”

 

Wynonna shrugged again. She looked at Peacemaker in her hand then waved it around as her eyes focused back on Nicole “Why is everyone always asking me about him?”

 

“It’s okay to miss him. It doesn’t make you weak. In fact, admitting you care makes you strong. Emotions aren’t a bad thing, Wynonna.”

 

Another roll of the eyes came from Wynonna and she looked back at her gun. She was quiet for a moment, as if really studying the weapon she held. Her eyes squinted and she barely moved as she focused on it. After a few moments she let out a sigh and looked back at Nicole “You ever kill someone, officer?”

 

Nicole blinked. That had come out of the blue. She had thought they were talking about Dolls but apparently this was about Willa. She shook her head and cleared her throat “You had to, Wyno-”

 

“You didn’t answer my question” Wynonna cut her off with a snarl. She lifted the whiskey back to her mouth and took another quick drink before motioning to Nicole. “Have you ever killed anyone?”

 

Nicole just shook her head again. She took a drink from her water then let out a sigh as her eyes dropped to look into her glass. She was quiet as she contemplated how to answer Wynonna. She had a feeling that if she didn’t give her an answer at all, she would keep pushing until she heard what she wanted to hear. After a moment of thought she looked back up at Wynonna and shrugged “I’ve had to shoot someone I knew. It’s not easy. But it was the right thing. You did the right thing.”

 

Wynonna stared at Nicole blankly for a moment. It was almost like she was processing what Nicole had just said. After a few heartbeats of silence, she shrugged and took another drink. 

 

When it seemed like Wynonna was satisfied with her answer, Nicole let out another sigh of relief. She motioned toward the stairs behind her and nodded “I’m going to go get some sleep. You should think about doing the same.”

 

Wynonna waved with Peacemaker as a bored look took over her face. She was definitely going to pass out drunk right where she sat.

 

Nicole moved up the stairs quietly and back toward Waverly’s room. When she walked through the door and saw Waverly laying down again, she smiled. She was glad she had gone back to sleep. The last thing she wanted was her up all night worrying about her.

 

Setting the glass on the bedside table, Nicole sat on the edge of the bed again. She drew in a deep breath, reached for the lamp to turn it off, then let out a sigh. She moved gently to lay next to Waverly, not wanting to disturb her. As her head hit the pillow, she closed her eyes and drew in another deep breath. Hopefully she could sleep without any more bad dreams.

 

Waverly rolled over as soon as Nicole settled next to her. She slid her arm around Nicole’s waist and pulled herself against her. She moved to lay her head against Nicole’s shoulder and her eyes came open slowly. She stared up at her girlfriend in the dark for a minute or two, wondering if she was going to say anything or if she was just going to lay there and continue to pretend to sleep. When it seemed like the latter, Waverly sighed and propped her head up on her arm so she was slightly above where Nicole’s head was on the pillow “Who did you shoot?”

 

“Holy shit!” Nicole’s eyes shot open and she turned to look at Waverly with a look that showed she had been nearly asleep and her speaking had startled her awake. “What the Hell, Waverly!? I thought you were asleep!”

 

“I can’t sleep when you won’t talk to me. You know this” Waverly said with a pout as her chin now moved from her own hand to lay in the space between Nicole’s collarbone and left breast. Her eyes stared up widely at Nicole, waiting for an answer to her original question “Who did you shoot?”

 

Nicole looked down at Waverly’s extremely close face and shook her head. She let out a sigh and gently moved to push herself up so she was now sitting with her back against the headboard. She slid her arm around Waverly, pulling her with her as she adjusted her position. After a moment of the two of them figuring out how to settle against one another again, Nicole’s arm ended up around Waverly’s back. She looked down at her girlfriend’s still inquiring eyes and she smiled “What are you talking about?”

 

“I heard you” Waverly rolled her eyes, looking way too much like Wynonna. She pushed her hair off her face and sat up a little more straight so she could be at eye level with Nicole. “You forget if someone farts in the basement I can hear it in the attic in this place. Absolutely no insulation.”

 

“And yet you still never hear Wynonna coming up the stairs” Nicole said with a teasing little smile as her hand moved to brush some of Waverly’s long strands from her cheek.

 

“That is because I am distracted by something else” Waverly smirked, her hand sliding across Nicole’s stomach under the very thin tank top she had worn to bed that night. “All my senses are preoccupied.”

 

“Is that so?” Nicole whispered in a soft yet somehow husky voice as she leaned closer to Waverly “Well maybe you could use a little preoccupation right now..” She licked over her lips gently and leaned in toward Waverly’s mouth.

 

Waverly smirked and watched Nicole’s lips draw closer to hers. At the very last possible instant, she turned her head so the kiss landed on her cheek and not her mouth. She looked back at Nicole firmly and shook her head “I’m serious, Nicole. I want to know who you shot.”

 

Nicole groaned and moved to lean back against the headboard with a thud. She closed her eyes and brought her free hand to her nose, pinching at the bridge of it for a moment. She drew in a sharp breath through her nostrils before letting it out and dropping her hand away. She opened her eyes and looked back to Waverly with a serious look “Baby, it was a long time ago. It doesn’t even matter now.”

 

“You said it was someone you knew” Waverly whispered softly, a frown on her lips.

 

“Yeah” Nicole shrugged it off with a bland tone. “I became a cop in the town I grew up in, it was bound to happen. When you live somewhere long enough you tend to start recognizing the people who have lived there just as long as you have.”

 

Waverly thought it over for a moment. She literally knew just about every detail about every single person in Purgatory because she had lived there her entire life. It made sense that Nicole would eventually have to arrest someone she had grown up around. She gave a nod and a soft smile after deciding that she was satisfied with the story “Was it hard?”

 

“Shooting someone is never easy no matter how bad they might be” Nicole whispered, a sadness filling her eyes as she spoke. She lifted a hand to push some of Waverly’s hair back off her neck and offered her a soft nod “I think it’s starting to take a toll on Wynonna, honestly. Demons are one thing but demons aren’t the only things she’s shot.”

 

Waverly frowned at that. She knew being the Earp heir couldn’t be easy but she didn’t think Wynonna had enough feelings left inside her to really care about what she was actually doing. She chewed at her lip a moment then looked up at Nicole with an almost scared expression on her face “Do you think when this is all said and done and all of the Revenants are gone, she is going to still be the same Wynonna?”

 

Nicole just shrugged. There was an almost defeated look on her face because she wished she could comfort Waverly and tell her it would all be alright but she honestly knew she couldn’t. She leaned in and touched a soft kiss to her girlfriend’s lips and let that be all the honest comfort she could give “I hope so.”

 

Waverly let out a sigh. She shifted now to lay her head against Nicole’s chest. One hand laid against her stomach as the other laid wrapped around her back. She gave a soft squeeze then closed her eyes as she whispered out a soft “So do I.”

 

Nicole nodded at that. She leaned her chin down just enough to place a kiss on Waverly’s head. She then let her head come to rest on the headboard behind the bed. Her arm stayed wrapped tightly around her girlfriend as the two of them fell silent. She eventually felt Waverly’s body drift off to sleep but her own mind was whirling too much to get any rest. Now she was worried about Wynonna. She knew firsthand how the responsibility of doing the right thing could weigh someone down.

 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

 

_ “Listen, squirt, I need you to be really convincing right now okay?” A man whispered to the small red headed child as he looked around where they stood. It was nearly midnight, it was cold, and there didn’t seem to be another soul awake in the world. The man liked that thought and looked back down at the child he was knelt in front of at the moment “You remember what I told you?” _

 

_ “I’m lost” Nicole, at the age of seven or eight, recited the words with a bored nod. “I think I saw my dad go that way” The child mumbled and pointed down the street. She folded her arms then looked up at the man with a little shake of her head, the tiny curls that were pulled back in a sloppy ponytail swished back and forth with the motion of her head. “I don’t like this.” _

 

_ “I know” The man whispered as a fake frown filled his face. “This is the last time, I promise.” _

 

_ Little Nicole rolled her eyes because she had heard that line before. She had been hearing it for years. At first, she had to admit, it had been exciting. She was being included. She felt like a grown up. But now, as the years passed, she was beginning to think it wasn’t a good thing. There was something deep down inside herself that was telling her it was wrong. _

 

_ “Now go” The man turned Nicole around by the shoulders and nudged her toward the front door of the house of which they had been huddled outside. He gave her a nod and when the reluctant child turned back to look at him, he offered a thumbs up. _

 

_ Nicole shook her head and looked back at the door. It was a bright blue door. Even in the darkness of the night she could see it was a bright blue door. As blue as the sky in the middle of the day. She wished it was the middle of the day. She liked when it was day time. She got to be a normal kid. She got to go to school and take her mind off what she did at night. _

 

“You alright?” Nedley had been watching Nicole from his desk for the last few minutes. She had been staring off into space, it had seemed. When he walked by to get coffee and she hadn’t blinked, he frowned. He snapped his fingers once to bring her back to reality and when she blinked and looked up at him he offered that crooked sarcastic almost smile he had “Long night?”

 

“Yeah, sorry” Nicole mumbled, her eyes dropping to the files she had been looking at on her desk. “I’ve been studying that file you gave me about the Gard-”

 

Nedley straightened up and put a finger to his lips. He looked around and when no one seemed to have heard her, his eyes focused back on Nicole and his head shook “The bandits?”

 

Nicole perked an eyebrow. She had no idea what the Hell the bandits were. She shook her head slowly as her eyes studied Nedley’s face. Then it dawned on her that he was using a code word and her face lit up. She nodded and let out a laugh “The bandits, right. It’s all very fascinating.”

 

“We are in Purgatory” Nedley said, now bored, as he sipped his coffee. Honestly he had seen so many weird things in his time on the force that it was just another day at the office any time a creature with two heads threatened Town Hall.

 

“I have gone over it and over it and it just isn’t making much sense” Nicole continued, having barely acknowledged Nedley’s quip about Purgatory. “What am I supposed to be looking for?”

 

“Your guess is as good as mine” He said with a shrug. He set down the extra cup of coffee he had made for her. “I was hoping fresh eyes would help. Just…” He motioned to the file and shook his head “Don’t wear yourself thin on it, alright? I need you sharp for things happening in the now.”

 

Nicole offered him her sweet, sincere smile and reached for her cup. She nodded and watched him walk back into his office. She took a sip of coffee then looked back down at the file Nedley had given her. Honestly, she hadn’t really done much reading into it. Between Waverly, Wynonna, Revenants, and town drunks she had been a little preoccupied to take on more work. 

 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

 

“If you keep up like this you’ll be moving up the ranks in no time!”

 

Nicole smiled at the words that bounced around in her head. She remembered them as if they had been boasted proudly at her just yesterday. The Chief of Police, her boss, had called her the most promising rookie on the force. He sang her praises to everyone he knew. He had even told her he was waiting for her to score one big bust to promote her to detective.

 

Her thumb stroked over her badge as she thought back to the first year she spent as a police officer in her hometown. It had been almost too easy. Too simple. Yet, far too complicated. Somehow, though, she almost longed for those days now. Purgatory was exhausting.

 

A knock came to her door and pulled her out of her thoughts. She set down the badge and scrambled quickly to her feet from where she had been sprawled out on her floor and she moved toward her door. She smiled as she pulled it open and was greeted by a very perky looking Waverly “Hey.”

 

“Hey yourself” Waverly gave her a grin then bounced on her toes right passed her and into the apartment. She moved to the small kitchen, dropped the pizza box she had carried in onto the counter then whirled around to look at her girlfriend who was shutting the door behind her “So, I’ve been thinking….”

 

Nicole laughed and moved toward her girlfriend. She leaned in and kissed her softly before reaching to pull the pizza box open. The smell of food instantly made her stomach growl in anticipation. She reached for a slice then looked back at Waverly “About what?”

 

“Maybe we should go on vacation?” Waverly said with a little shrug as she reached for a slice of pizza now as well.

 

Nicole gave a soft laugh and wiped sauce from her lips after the bite she had stuffed in her face. Her cheeks puffed as she chewed and as soon as she could make room, she started talking with food still in her mouth “Nedley would kill me.”

 

Waverly rolled her eyes at Nicole. Had she not been related to Wynonna and used to the woman’s non existent manners, it might have grossed her out to see her girlfriend talking with food in her mouth. Instead she shook her head “I thought he was hiring more officers?”

 

“He is” Nicole shrugged, speaking clearly now that she had swallowed. “But apparently it’s a little more extensive than just going and finding people. He says he needs a special breed to be a cop in Purgatory.”

 

“What does that even mean?” Waverly asked as a soft amused laugh left her lips.

 

“We live in Purgatory where literally a day without the supernatural is considered abnormal” Nicole mumbled blandly, pulling a mushroom off her pizza. She slipped it into her mouth, licked her lips, and shrugged “He recruited me for years, you know?”

 

Waverly looked surprised at that. Her jaw dropped slightly and she let out a grunt of interested amusement. She shook her head and smiled “I did not know that. I just thought you closed your eyes and pointed to a map and decided that is where you were going to work.” She smirked, licking her lips and lowering her voice before adding playfully “Or googled who had the sexiest residents, saw my face, and moved here immediately.”

 

Nicole smirked slightly at that. She nodded just once and leaned in closer to Waverly “Totally the second one.” She gave her a wink then lifted the napkin she had been using to wipe her mouth to swipe at some sauce that sat on Waverly’s chin. She let out a laugh and straightened up, shaking her head and speaking more seriously now “No, really, Nedley fought for me. I had loads of offers.”

 

“Really?” Waverly seemed impressed. Not surprised, though. She knew Nicole was great at her job. “Like what?”

 

Nicole just shrugged. She pulled more toppings off her pizza but didn’t eat them. She suddenly wasn’t hungry. She thought about where she had been at, personally, when Nedley had swooped in and saved her. She shook her head and looked back up at Waverly’s waiting eyes “Just other places, you know? I was top of my class and the fastest rookie to meet arrest quota my first year. A lot of big cities look for cops like that.”

 

“So why Purgatoty?” Waverly asked softly. This was one of the first times that Nicole had ever really talked about her past and she didn’t want to scare her off by asking too much. But she was interested. She wanted to know everything about her girlfriend. Hell, Nicole had been introduced into the Earp shit storm without any warning, it was only fair that Waverly got to peek into Nicole’s past now.

 

Nicole just shrugged. She sometimes wondered if she had taken the right job. It was a shit town with shit pay, comparatively, but she had accepted it almost without hesitation. She chalked it up to that feeling deep down inside herself that had always steered her right before. “I just had a feeling I was needed here.” She smiled sincerely at that then leaned in and kissed Waverly once more “And look where it’s gotten me.”

 

Waverly grinned, biting her lower lip as she gazed adoringly at her girlfriend. She couldn’t ever remember feeling this wanted and this admired in any other relationship she had ever had. Nicole had a way of making her feel like the most important person on the planet. She hoped that feeling never went away “I, for one, think you made an excellent decision.”

 

“So do I” Nicole said with a smile. She stared at Waverly for just a moment more, taking in how beautiful she was. Even if she wore no make up, which was rare for Waverly, she still thought she was the most stunning woman she had ever seen. She leaned in and kissed at her forehead then nodded with her head toward her couch “Movie?”

 

“Of course” Waverly said, perking up with a happy smile now. She grabbed the pizza box and the two of them moved into the living room. She plopped onto the couch, dropped the pizza on the table, then reached for the remote. The remote wasn’t in it’s usual spot and she frowned before starting to look around for it. “You know for an officer of the law that needs to always have their shit together in the field you are kind of a slob.”

 

“I am not” Nicole looked around her apartment from where she sat on the couch with another slice of pizza in hand. She was a little messy, but it wasn’t gross. She lived alone and the house didn’t stink. A little clutter wasn’t bad. She worked long hours and usually crashed at the Homestead most nights so it wasn’t like she had a lot of time to clean up.

 

“I guess compared to Wynonna you’re a saint” Waverly said with a laugh as she continued lifting pillows and blankets in search of the remote. When that came up empty she stood up and started kicking aside shoes and other various objects scattered about the floor to see if it had fallen off the table. “You’re just so well kept in appearance and everything you do I honestly imagined your apartment to be pristine.”

 

“You’ve been here a handful of times, why are you complaining now?” Nicole watched Waverly now, amused that she was treading so lightly through her mess of a living room floor, trying to both move things out of the way but not mess them up any more than they already were.

 

Waverly laughed and just shrugged “I guess I never really noticed before. Either that or you’ve stopped cleaning before I come over because you don’t feel the need to impress me anymore?”

 

“Definitely the second one” Nicole tapped her nose to indicate she had guessed it, giving Waverly a playful wink. She suddenly caught sight of the remote and pointed at it “There! Near the cat tower!”

 

Waverly whirled around and spotted it sticking out near the base of the carpeted structure Nicole’s cat liked to hang out on. She smiled and moved swiftly over to retrieve it. She waved it in the air, to prove to Nicole she had it, as if she hadn’t just watched her pick it up, then started back toward the couch. She was a few steps away when something caught her eye in the mess on the floor and she paused. She leaned down and scooped up the badge that laid on top of a magazine and her brow creased. She lifted it and showed Nicole what she had found “What’s this?”

 

Nicole stood up like a shot when she saw what Waverly had. She quickly reached for it and groaned when Waverly moved it out of her reach just as fast. She frowned and put a hand on her hip while she held the other one out palm up, waiting for the object to be placed there “Come on, give it here.”

 

“Why is your badge on the floor?”

 

“It’s not-” She lunged for it once more and grunted again when Waverly moved it out of reach. She sighed and shook her head “It’s not my Purgatory badge, okay? That one is on my uniform.” She motioned toward where her bedroom was, where her uniform was hung neatly in her closet.

 

Waverly perked an eyebrow at that. She looked down at the badge she held now and when she saw the name of the city etched on it, she smiled softly and looked back to her girlfriend “So that’s where you’re from?”

 

Nicole rolled her eyes and gave a nod. She held her hand out for the badge again and when Waverly placed it in her palm, she wrapped her fingers around it tightly. She moved to sit on the couch and shook her head as she looked at the badge “I keep it around to remind me of my roots.”

 

Waverly gave a nod, letting Nicole know she was listening as she sat next to her on the couch. “Do you miss home?”

 

“Not at all” Nicole said in one quick breath without a hint of hesitation. She stared at the badge a moment longer then looked back at Waverly. She offered her a gentle smile before she spoke softly “Nedley saved me. Being on the force back home got…” She thought about what word she wanted to use for a moment then let out a defeated sigh as she spoke it “…complicated. I wanted to get as far away from there as possible.”

 

Waverly nodded again. She was completely enthralled by hearing about Nicole’s past so she didn’t want to interrupt. “So that’s why you picked Purgatory.”

 

“Yeah” Nicole nodded once then looked up at her girlfriend. She had a sad smile on her lips when their eyes met “I’d never heard of it before Nedley came along offering me a place here so I had a good suspicion no one back home had ever heard of it either. It might be named Purgatory, but it sounded like a slice of Heaven to me.”

 

“Why?” Waverly asked timidly. She wanted to know more. She just hoped Nicole wouldn’t shut down on her now.

 

Nicole just shook her head once. She looked down at her badge and sighed “Like I said, it got complicated.”

 

Waverly nodded. She would take what she would get. She leaned over and kissed Nicole’s cheek before lifting her hand and sliding her fingertips along the line of her jaw gently “For what it’s worth I’m glad you’re here.”

 

“Me too” Nicole leaned into Waverly touch. Her eyes closed and she took a moment to just soak in the feeling of her girlfriend’s tender touch. Never in her life had she met someone so caring. Someone who could soothe her so easily. She bit her lip and when her eyes came open and she caught Waverly staring at her, she felt her heart twist a bit “I might have grown up there, but this is home now.” She turned her head and kissed the palm of Waverly’s hand that was against her cheek before whispering “You’re my home now.”

 

Waverly bit her lip gently, her eyes studying the way Nicole’s face moved into her hand. She traced the curve of Nicole’s lips as they moved from the kiss against her hand to touch a peck to her thumb. She had to draw in a deep breath to keep herself from floating away. Nicole was so beautiful and now, more than ever before, Waverly knew without a doubt that this woman had been sent there for her. She leaned in now, using her hand against Nicole’s cheek to guide their lips together. The kiss was soft, tender, neither of them feeling the need to make it anything more than just that. It spoke volumes as it was. They were both at home now.

 

As the kiss broke off, their eyes met, and they stared at one another for a few heartbeats. Finally, Nicole’s lips curled into a tiny smirk and she let out a soft laugh “Who knew you barging in here with pizza and insulting my organized clutter would get you to unlock my tragic backstory.”

 

Waverly let out a laugh and swatted playfully at Nicole’s chest before moving away from her now. She settled against the couch, lifting the remote toward the tv screen. “I did not barge” She mumbled in a playfully grumpy tone. She glanced out of the corner of her eye, smirking at how amused her girlfriend was before shaking her head “And that tragic backstory you claim to have sure does have a lot of holes in it. I wouldn’t really use the word tragic to describe what you told me. Ominous, curious, and alluring maybe. But not tragic.”

 

Nicole rolled her eyes and reached for another slice of pizza while at the same time setting down her old badge. She then moved herself so she was laying along her couch but instead of her head on the arm rest she laid it on Waverly’s lap, letting her long legs stretch to hang off the other arm rest of her couch more than they usually did. She looked up at her girlfriend, grinning at her happily “Ominous? Really?”

 

Waverly glanced down at Nicole and laughed lightly “You used the word complicated. That is such a broad term I feel like anything is possible.”

 

Nicole just shrugged. She picked at the toppings on the pizza, eating the ones she wanted, and lifting her fingers to Waverly’s mouth with the other toppings for her to eat while she picked a movie. The two of them fell silent as they settled in for the night. If she was being honest, she was glad Waverly hadn’t pushed for more. It wasn’t that she didn’t want her to know but that the entire story was, well, complicated. If she could leave it in the past without ever talking about it again, she would. She hoped it would never be brought up again but she knew Waverly too well and knew it wasn’t the end of it. But for now it was enough. It just wasn’t the right time, she thought. It was too soon to lay all of that on Waverly. She had enough to deal with at the moment anyway.

 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

 


	2. Chapter 2

_ “Nicole, listen to me” The older woman whispered with all the strength she had left as she looked up at her teenage granddaughter who held her dying body in her arms. “Do good.” _

 

_ Nicole’s tear streaked face looked down at her grandmother that lay in her arms and her head gave a shake. She drew in a deep breath and cried out softly “Don’t. Don’t you dare start giving me your last words. You are not dying, do you hear me? Help is on the way.” _

 

_ Her grandmother gave Nicole a loving, warm smile and reached her frail hand to touch at her cheek. She brushed hair from her granddaughter’s eyes and shook her head “You’re not that stupid, m’dear. I’m dying.” _

 

_ Nicole started crying harder. She closed her eyes, letting tears fall from her face, and pulled her arms around her grandmother more tightly. She pulled her so she sat up slightly and held her in a tight hug. She could feel her body growing more weak with each passing second. She whispered hoarsely against her ear “I can’t do this without you.” _

 

_ “You’ve been doing it without me for years, Nicole” The old woman whispered. She drew her eyes closed and drew in a shallow breath as pain shot through her entire body. She used what strength she had left to return the embrace that Nicole held her in “Be better than him, baby.” _

 

_ Nicole felt her grandmother go limp. She gasped and pulled her body away from her, gently moving to lay her back to the floor. She shook her head as her vision was taken over by a flood of tears. Her grandmother had been the only person to genuinely care for her in her entire life and now that had been ripped away from her. She swore from that day forward to make sure justice would be served. _

 

“Helllllooooo?” Waverly’s hand was waving in front of Nicole’s face where she sat at her desk, gazing off at nothing.

 

Nicole blinked away the memory she had been consumed with and focused her eyes on her girlfriend. She offered her a weak smile and reached out to put a hand on Waverly’s leg where she stood next to her. “Hey. Is it lunch time already?”

 

“Yeah” Waverly eyed Nicole carefully, concern painting her features. She had been standing there talking to Nicole for nearly a minute without any acknowledgment. “Hey, are you alright?”

 

“Fine” Nicole said with a nod. She straightened up a few files on her desk, placing them in a neat pile before standing up. She offered a smile and her hand to Waverly then motioned toward the door “So what’s on the menu today?”

 

Waverly hesitated before taking Nicole’s hand. She was worried about what she had just walked in on. Nicole had been so out of it, so deep in thought or whatever was going on, that it was as if Nicole’s body had been left behind and her mind had been somewhere else completely. She wondered if people could have out of body experiences if they weren’t nearly dead or asleep because if so, she was almost sure that’s what she had walked in on.

 

“Waves?” Nicole perked an eyebrow when she hadn’t gotten an answer. They were outside now and she had the keys to her police cruiser in hand. She glanced at her girlfriend and waited for an answer “Where are we eating today? Are we driving or walking?”

 

Waverly blinked herself out of her own thoughts and shook her head. She looked up at Nicole and smiled weakly “Let’s go to the Homestead. I want to cook for you.”

 

Nicole perked an eyebrow in half concern for how out of it Waverly had seemed just then and half in interest that her girlfriend wanted to cook. “Well alright then” She said with a smile and unlocked her car. She opened the passenger side first and watched Waverly slide in before shutting the door and moving around to the driver side. Once she got in and started the engine, she glanced at Waverly with a smile “What are you cooking?”

 

“It’s a surprise” Waverly said with a smirk. Her hand reached over and she placed it on Nicole’s knee as the car began to move forward and gave a soft squeeze “But I can assure you, it’s one of your favorites.”

 

Nicole bit her lip for a split second and glanced over at her girlfriend. When she saw the devious look on Waverly’s face she knew that there was absolutely no plan for food involved. She licked at her lips and gave a single nod “You know what I like. I trust your judgment.”

 

Waverly smirked again and let out a satisfied laugh. Oh she knew exactly what Nicole liked. She had been learning so many new things about her girlfriend over the past few weeks and if there was one consistent theme she found it was that anything involving herself in any sort of role play situation, Nicole was all for it. She wondered if that was a thing Nicole had always been into or if it just had to do with the fact that it was herself doing it for her. She would have to ask. Later, though. She didn’t want to ruin the surprise even though she was sure Nicole had already figured it out. She was a great cop, after all.

 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

 

“So, how’d you like lunch?” Waverly cooed playfully as she rolled over on the floor where her and Nicole laid sprawled out together. She slid her hand over Nicole’s stomach and up along her bare side before leaning in and kissing a random spot on her ribs.

 

Nicole let out a soft laugh, nodding her head slightly as her hand reached out to slide her fingers through the mess that was Waverly’s post-sex hair “Delicious, Chef Waves.”

 

Waverly smirked and placed another stray kiss against Nicole’s chest before laying her head down against her bare breast. Their clothes were scattered about the kitchen. The only remaining stitch of clothing left in tact was the apron Waverly had put on as part of her chef costume and even that had been folded down and half torn off of her in the midst of their shenanigans.

 

Nicole put a hand under her head and stared up at the ceiling as the other one ran up and down mindlessly along Waverly’s back. She let out a happy sigh and closed her eyes. Sure, she was running way too late in getting back to work after her lunch break but if Nedley asked she would just claim she had decided to make a few passes through town on patrol since it was a slow day.

 

The two of them laid there content for a long time. Fingers randomly ran over patches of skin and through tangled hair. Waverly drew small patterns against Nicole’s stomach. Nicole twirled Waverly’s long strands of hair around her fingers gently. There was a peace there that Nicole wasn’t sure she had ever felt before in her life. 

 

After longer than either of them knew, Nicole groaned and looked down at where Waverly lay nearly naked on top of her. She smiled, sitting up slightly to touch a kiss to the top of her girlfriend’s head, before moving her hands back to prop herself up “And now the decision to have sex on the hard kitchen floor is coming back to wreak havoc on me.”

 

Waverly sat up too, smiling at the little grimace on Nicole’s face “Aw poor baby’s got old bones.”

 

“Shut up” Nicole said with a laugh. She slid herself out from under Waverly, got to her knees, kissed her girlfriend one more time, and then climbed to her feet. “I really should be getting back.”

 

“I know” Waverly said with a nod. Honestly, she was surprised Nicole had stayed as long as she had. She was always so strict about work and sticking to the codes and ethics of her job that it had surprised her when Nicole hadn’t rushed back to work right away.

 

Nicole smiled down at the girl still sitting on the floor as she fetched her button up police shirt and slid her arms into it one at a time. “Are you going to stay down there all day?”

 

Waverly laughed and shook her head. She reached her hand up for help and when Nicole reached back for her without hesitation, her heart fluttered. She took her girlfriend’s hand and got to her feet slowly. A groan left her lips as she stood. She realized she was stiff from their romp on the hard floor as well.

 

“Aw poor baby has old bones” Nicole mimicked Waverly’s earlier tone, batting her eyes playfully at her girlfriend as she teased her.

 

Waverly rolled her eyes then reached to untie the apron that had somehow managed to hang onto her hips through it all. It dropped to the floor without a sound then Waverly turned to fetch her skirt from on top of the table “So I think I decided where I want to go on vacation.”

 

Nicole, now sliding on her ugly khaki pants, paused and looked up at Waverly curiously “You’re serious about that?”

 

“Of course I am” Waverly said with a nod, shaking out her skirt a few times before moving to step into it. “You need it. When I walked in to get you for lunch today you were…” She shrugged and straightened herself up now that her skirt had been pulled back over her hips “….somewhere else. I think you’re working too hard.”

 

“I’m fine” Nicole said with a shrug. She started looking around for her gun, which she had removed from her holster once they had started pulling at each others clothes. Last thing they needed was one of them accidentally getting shot out of excitement. When she spotted it on the counter next to her keys, she smiled. Even her horny self was smart enough to keep all of her things together.

 

Waverly paused, her bra halfway back on her chest, dangling now on her arms in front of her. She shook her head as she stared at her girlfriend in frustration for a moment. “Will you stop saying you’re fine? Remember a few weeks ago when you thought something was off with me? And you let it go and you let it go and then suddenly there was something wrong with me and you were like…” She cleared her throat and imitated Nicole’s voice “I knew something was wrong! Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

Nicole paused her movements of doing up her khakis and looked back at Waverly with a bland stare. She stood there, her button up still open, her hair a mess, and her hands on her hips trying to look threatening “I was right, wasn’t I?”

 

“Not the point!” Waverly growled and pulled her bra back onto her chest in fierce tugs, her frustration starting to boil. “The point is we agreed from that day forward to talk to each other. Whether it was something wrong we wanted to discuss or it was one of us feeling like something was wrong. And I feel like something is wrong, Nicole. You are so secretive about everything. You are buried in police work. You don’t sleep at night.”

 

When Nicole looked guilty for being called out for not sleeping, Waverly nodded “Don’t think I didn’t notice. I’m not stupid. I see everything.”

 

“I have never, not once, thought you were stupid Waves” Nicole said softly, moving across the kitchen now. She slid her hands over Waverly’s hips and pulled until they were resting together. She leaned in and kissed her lips softly before a hand lifted and she brushed some of her girlfriend’s messy hair from her face. Their eyes met and there was sincerity in her gaze when she spoke next “I just…” She shrugged and it was obvious she wanted to open up but she was having a hard time.

 

“Just what?” Waverly asked in a whisper. Her hands lifted and she placed them around the back of Nicole’s neck, her fingers playing gently in the short strands of her hair there. “You can tell me anything. There is nothing you could say that would make me not want to be with you.”

 

Nicole nodded and closed her eyes. She leaned forward just enough to place her forehead against Waverly’s. She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly before her head shook and she spoke in a trembling whisper “When I say complicated, I mean complicated.”

 

“Baby…” Waverly cooed, her fingers combing through Nicole’s hair gently. She was trying to comfort her, hold her carefully, to let her know that she was safe in her arms. “I’m related to Wyatt Earp and am helping my sister send the 77 souls of the people my great uncle killed back to Hell. I can handle complicated.”

 

Nicole laughed very softly. Her eyes open and she pulled back just enough to look at her girlfriend’s face. She gave a nod and used her hand to brush some more of Waverly’s hair from her cheek “I guess when you put it like that…”

 

“Hey Waves, I- Oh my god you guys!” Wynonna had burst through the door at that very instant and gotten an eye full. Her sister was leaning against the kitchen table, half dressed, and her cop lady friend had all of her clothing partially undone. She shook her head and motioned to the two of them “Next to the food?” She gasped, completely appalled, and moved across the kitchen in distress to the half smashed box of doughnuts she had gotten that morning “On the doughnuts!?”

 

Nicole blushed and turned away from Waverly. She moved across the kitchen to gather up her keys and her gun from the countertop, and turned to give a wave “I was actually just leaving.”

 

“You’re always just leaving” Wynonna grumbled, holding the box of doughnuts at eye level, inspecting it carefully. “Is this an ass print?”

 

Nicole rolled her eyes and looked back at Waverly. She shook her head in defeat and sighed “We’ll talk later?”

 

Waverly nodded quickly and offered a little two finger wave.

 

Nicole nodded and moved out of the door toward her police car. She paused before getting in to button her shirt and put herself back together. She could not stroll back into the police station looking like she had just had sex, that was for sure.

 

Wynonna set the doughnut box on the table next to where Waverly still leaned half dressed and sighed “Seriously? In the kitchen?”

 

Waverly bit her lip and pushed away from the table now to gather the rest of her discarded clothing “It just kind of happened. I’m sorry.”

 

“Don’t apologize to me” Wynonna shrugged and flipped the crumpled box open. When she saw that a few of the remaining doughnuts had been smashed in the chaos she groaned. She reached for one, lifted it up to inspect it then looked at Waverly “I think it’s kind of hot how the two of you can’t keep it in your pants. I wish I didn’t have to walk in on it every damn time but…” She shrugged again, her eyes going back to the mangled doughnut.

 

Waverly smiled softly at that. She had gotten lucky with Wynonna as her sister. She had never once given her anything but positive vibes about the entire situation with Nicole. She couldn’t be more grateful about it “I will try to control myself in shared spaces from now on.”

 

“Or you can put something on the doorknob like we discussed” Wynonna turned the doughnut around and showed it to Waverly “Do you think it was your ass or Nicole’s that did this?”

 

“I…” Waverly shook her head and blushed slightly before shrugging. “Mine, probably.”

 

Wynonna grimaced at that. She eyed the doughnut for a moment longer before she shrugged, deciding she didn’t really care, and took a bite. “It was protected by cardboard, I guess.”

 

Waverly chuckled to herself as she pulled on the rest of her clothing and put herself together again. She watched Wynonna chew her bite then stuff the rest of the doughnut into her mouth with a smile. She loved her sister so much. “Hey, how do you feel about going on vacation?”

 

“The devil doesn’t take a vacation” Wynonna mumbled around her mouth full of food.

 

“The demons will be here when we get back” Waverly mumbled with a roll of her eyes. “Don’t you want a break? I think we could all use one after what we’ve been through lately.”

 

“I was referring to myself as the devil” Wynonna said with a smirk as she wiped the doughnut frosting from her fingertips onto her jeans. 

 

“Funny” Waverly sighed and shook her head. “I’m serious, Wynonna. I think we need to step away from all of this for a little while. Refresh ourselves. You’ve been through Hell. I don’t think a few days away is going to hurt anyone.”

 

Wynonna rolled her eyes but didn’t argue. She knew it was pointless. So she dropped the subject and figured if she ignored it long enough it would just go away. She instead reached for another smashed doughnut then motioned toward the door “Doc and I are working on something this afternoon. Do you want in?”

 

Waverly knew exactly what her sister was doing. When she didn’t want to talk about something she pretended it didn’t exist in hopes that it would cease to exist. It was funny how much her sister and Nicole were alike in that aspect. She wouldn’t push, though. She wouldn’t drop the subject completely but she wouldn’t push. She just shrugged and gave her sister a nod “Sure, I could use the distraction anyway.”

 

“Then let’s roll out, baby girl” Wynonna said with a wink and headed toward the door without waiting for Waverly to catch up.

 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

 

_ “Congratulations, Haught” The police Chief smiled proudly as he shook the young officer’s hand. “This is the big one we were waiting for. Do you know how long we’ve been looking for this guy? How’d you find him?” _

 

_ “Right place, right time I guess” Nicole mumbled softly. She wasn’t proud. This should have been the best moment in her career but she wasn’t happy about it at all. She was sick to her stomach. She never thought doing the right thing would make her feel so awful. _

 

_ “This will make National news. There will be forces from all over coming for you. Just remember where you came from” The Chief said with a laugh, giving her a pat on the back before motioning to the media camera that was there in the precinct covering the story. “Now smile!” _

 

_ Nicole looked up as the camera started to flash but she didn’t smile. She wanted to crawl in a hole and hide forever if she was being honest. She wanted to disappear. This was not what being a cop was supposed to feel like. She was supposed to be proud of what she had done and instead she was considering quitting and running away forever. _

 

Nicole blinked herself out of her memory and wiped a tear from her eye. Her heart was thundering in her chest. Her palms were sweaty. She had been trying so hard to forget that day had ever happened and now the memory of it was surging forward with unstoppable force and all she could do now was drown in it.

 

“So” Waverly smiled, handing over the beer she had just gone to grab for herself and Nicole from the fridge in the Homestead. They were in the kitchen, fully dressed this time, enjoying some alone time after dinner. “I might be small but I am mighty.”

 

Nicole laughed at that and sipped her beer, glad Waverly hadn’t seemed to notice that she had been lost yet again in thought. Once she swallowed her drink she gave a nod “I agree to that but what are you talking about?”

 

Waverly gave her girlfriend a wide grin and pulled out a folder filled with papers “It means I am dragging you kicking and screaming on vacation with me.”

 

Nicole’s smile dropped and she let out a sigh “Waves, I can’t just leave. I have to put in a request for time-off and get it approved.”

 

Waverly’s grin didn’t flinch. She pulled out a paper and slid it across the table where they sat. “Taken care of it.”

 

Nicole’s eyes went wide and she looked down at the paper. It was official. It had the seal of the Purgatory police department on it. It was signed by Nedley. It was legitimate. “Waverly, are you kidding me? You went behind my back?”

 

“Nedley agrees!” Waverly motioned to the signed paperwork. “He was thrilled, actually. Said you needed a break. He thinks you’ve been working too much, too. Says he’s walked in on you dazed off more than once.”

 

Nicole rolled her eyes and took another drink from her beer. “I really wish people would stop insisting they know what’s best for me.”

 

“Hey” Waverly spoke softly, her hand reaching out to gently cover the one of Nicole’s that held the paper still. “We all care about you. You’ve worked non-stop since you moved here. We are just looking out for you.”

 

“I can take care of myself” Nicole mumbled softly.

 

“And so can I” Waverly said with a shrug “But that doesn’t stop you nor Wynonna from protecting me. I just want to do the same. That’s why I am planning this getaway for all of us.”

 

“Wait, Wynonna is coming?” Nicole perked an eyebrow. It wasn’t that she was thrilled with the idea of a vacation because she didn’t think she needed one but she had kind of imagined it would be a romantic getaway for the two of them.

 

“Of course she is” Waverly said with a smile now. She reached for her folder of papers again and nodded “You both need a break and I highly doubt I could pull this off twice so I thought I would two birds, one stone the thing.”

 

Nicole sighed. She thought it was supposed to be a vacation. Now it was just what they were already doing but in a different location. It wasn’t that she didn’t like Wynonna, it was quite the opposite actually, but when she thought of the word vacation she thought of relaxing and walking around naked and she knew neither of those things were on the table with Wynonna around.

 

“So I picked a destination and I made travel arrangements and booked hotels and…” Waverly glanced up at Nicole as she spoke and when she realized she wasn’t fighting her, a smile grew across her face. “And why aren’t you arguing?”

 

Nicole shook her head and just gave a defeated shrug “Maybe you’re right? Maybe I do need a break? Also, I know you Waverly and you are one of the most determined people I have ever met. You don’t quit until you get what you want so…” She motioned to the papers that Waverly had pulled out of her folder “Where are we going?”

 

Waverly let out a squeak of joy. She jumped up from her chair and nearly leaped into Nicole’s lap. She slid her arms around her neck and gave her a few excited kisses all over face “Really? You’ll go and stop fighting me?”

 

Nicole laughed at the enthusiasm from her girlfriend. She nodded, slid her arm around Waverly’s back so she didn’t fall backwards off her lap, and smiled “Yes, baby, I will stop fighting you.” 

 

“You’re the best!” Waverly leaned in and captured Nicole’s lips in a firm kiss. Her hand cupped the back of Nicole’s head, holding her there in the kiss so she could show her just how much she appreciated her surrender. Her lips parted and she let her tongue snake out, swiping it playfully against her girlfriend’s a few times. She let out a soft moan of liking then slowly pulled back, capturing Nicole’s lip in her teeth for a brief moment, giving it a tug before letting it go.

 

Nicole’s eyes remained shut as the kiss broke. She had to draw in a breath to calm herself down. Her lips tingled from the kiss. She smirked and released a happy sigh before her eyes opened and she brought her gaze back to Waverly “Shit, had I know that was the reaction I would get I would have given in a long time ago.”

 

Waverly let out a soft laugh, booping her girlfriend on the nose with her finger, before turning in her lap and reaching for the papers she had been milling over a moment earlier “Now if only we can get Wynonna to agree to go without a fight.”

 

“We might have to hit her over the head and drag her out of here before that will happen” Nicole said with a laugh. Her arms slid around Waverly’s waist, her hands coming to rest against her stomach, and her chin moved to lay on top of her girlfriend’s shoulder so she could look at the papers she held “So where did you decide we are going?”

 

Waverly bit her lip. She wasn’t sure how Nicole would feel. She had mulled it over in her head for a week now and she had decided to just go for it. She lifted the paper that had the name of their destination on it and turned it so Nicole could read it “Please don’t be mad. There is a lot of beautiful things to see and do there, from what I read about it and-”

 

“Waverly” Nicole snatched the paper out of her hands. She pushed so Waverly slid off her lap, making sure she landed on her feet at least, then stood from the chair she had been sitting in. Her eyes hadn’t left the paper and she gave her head an angry shake “You have got to be kidding me right now!”

 

“Baby, calm down” Waverly said softly, her hands held out toward Nicole in a gesture of surrender. “I just thought it would be nice to see where you grew up.”

 

“I told you” Nicole growled, throwing the paper toward the table and narrowing her eyes at Waverly. “I do not want to go home. I don’t miss it. There is nothing there for me. I wish you would respect me on this subject!”

 

“I’m sorry” Waverly said sincerely, leaning down to pick up the paper that Nicole had thrown because it had missed the table and fluttered to the floor. “I swear I had the best intentions. Maybe you should go home and face whatever it is that you ran away from.”

 

“Don’t pretend you know anything about me” Nicole said with a fierce glare. She shook her head and turned now to grab her coat from the back of the chair. “I have to go.”

 

“That’s the problem!” Waverly yelled, moving quickly now to put herself in the pathway between Nicole and the door. “I don’t know anything about you because you won’t tell me! You give me vague snippets here and there but nothing real, Nicole. That’s not fair.”

 

“It’s literally none of your business” Nicole huffed angrily as she punched each one of her hands into the arms of her coat before tossing it up onto her shoulders and giving an angry zip to close it.

 

“You know everything about me. About my family” Waverly threw her hand to the side to motion that they were in fact standing in the middle of her childhood home. “There is literally nothing about myself I haven’t told you. I feel like this is completely one sided!”

 

Nicole clenched her jaw and looked around. Waverly was right. Every detail of the Earp family was laid out on the table to her. Waverly was an open book and Nicole was an illegible scribble on a post-it note in comparison. She let out a huff of a sigh and pulled her zipper back open on her coat “God damn it, Waverly.”

 

Waverly perked an eyebrow at Nicole’s sudden change in demeanor. She had thought she was going to storm out and they’d be in a fight for a week. But there she was, taking off her coat and sitting back at the table. She bit her lip nervously and moved toward Nicole, sliding her hands over her shoulders gently “Are you alright?”

 

“No” Nicole’s head was propped up in one of her hands, her elbow on the table. The other one was rubbing at her eyes gently. “Sit down.”

 

Waverly nodded and moved quickly to do so. She scooted her chair as close as physically possible to Nicole, their knees pressing together tightly. Her eyes were soft, curious but understanding, as her hand reached out to rub along her girlfriend’s back “I’m here.”

 

Nicole let out a heavy sigh and lifted her head off her hand. She opened her eyes and turned to look at Waverly with a serious gaze in her eyes. She shook her head and relented a soft “I’m a werewolf.”

 

Waverly straightened up in surprise. Her jaw dropped and she stared in disbelief at her girlfriend. She was shocked, to say the least. It’s not like the abnormal surprised her anymore but this did. She had thought her girlfriend was just a simple, genuine, loving human being who was Hell bent on doing good. She could have never predicted this.

 

Nicole perked an eyebrow at Waverly’s face journey that was playing out in front of her. The girl had dropped her jaw, then perked an eyebrow, then tilted her head to the side as if really trying to figure out if she had just heard what Nicole had said. Then she smiled. Then frowned. Then she let out a grunt and blinked and looked back at Nicole blankly. This made Nicole bite her lip to fight her smile as she mumbled “I am totally messing with you, Waves. I’m a human as far as I know.”

 

“Oh…” Waverly’s jaw dropped in complete indignation “…my….GOD!” She swatted at Nicole’s arm and huffed as she folded her arms across her chest with a pout. “You’re such an asshole, Nicole. Oh my god, I really believed it! Why would you do that? I thought you were seriously, for once, actually going to open up to me!”

 

“Hey, hey” Nicole frowned and reached out to put her hands on Waverly’s shoulders. She moved her girlfriend back and forth, trying to get her to look at her but each time she did, Waverly turned her head away again. She let out a sigh and gently rubbed her hands up and down her girlfriend’s arms “Look, I’m sorry. It’s like physically impossible for me to talk about what happened. I swear, whenever I try I just blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. Believe me, I wish I were a werewolf. It would make things so much easier.”

 

Waverly rolled her eyes, gave one last frustrated huff, then moved her eyes to meet Nicole’s. She stared at her with a glare that could light a fire if she had supernatural abilities and let out a sigh “Nicole if you can’t be honest about this then how am I ever going to be able to plan a future with you?”

 

The words hit Nicole like a punch to the gut. She let out a grunt as if she had actually been hit and her eyes dropped. Waverly was absolutely right. How could they have a real, deep, honest relationship with one another if she couldn’t share all parts of herself with her? They couldn’t. She didn’t want a relationship based on lies. It wasn’t like she was lying, really, but she wasn’t being honest. 

 

Waverly just stared at Nicole. She cared about this woman. She loved her. But she was done with being left out. She had been left out of so many things in her life and she was over it. If Nicole couldn’t talk to her then she was done. 

 

When Nicole looked back at her girlfriend and saw her firm glare still fixed on her face she knew it was time. She loved Waverly. She saw herself with her for a long time. She had to know that this would come up eventually in any actual relationship. It was time to talk. “Okay” She whispered softly. Her hand moved to touch lightly against Waverly’s cheek and she nodded “I’ll tell you.”

 

Waverly didn’t move. Her arms stayed crossed and her eyebrow remained arched in skepticism. Actions spoke louder than words. Which was a weird analogy considering she was waiting for Nicole to use words, but she knew what she meant in her own mind. She wanted Nicole to back up her words with the action of using words. 

 

Waverly’s silent death stare was a little unnerving. She was serious. Nicole drew in a deep breath, reached for her beer, took a swig, then nodded. “Okay. As I said before, my past is com-”

 

“Complicated” Waverly mumbled in a bored tone with a roll of her eyes. “I heard you the first fourteen hundred times you said that.”

 

Nicole nodded. Cold Waverly was not her favorite thing. She sighed and continued “Growing up, there was always drama going on. Most of it involving my-”

 

Just then the door was kicked open loudly and Wynonna came in slowly, hand over her eyes, the other reached out in front of her groping blindly so she wouldn’t run into anything, yelling out “I am entering the Homestead! Please return your clothing to it’s appropriate place on your bodies and put your hands where I can see them!”

 

Waverly grunted in frustration and moved out of her chair quickly. She stormed over to her sister and swatted her hand that was reaching forward blindly out of the air “Wynonna, you have the worst timing!”

 

“Oh my god you two are like rabbits!” Wynonna groaned and opened her fingers just enough to peek through. When she realized that both of the girls were fully dressed and she had not, for once, walked in on the red light district extravaganza, she dropped her hand and grinned. “Well what’s going on in here? Oh! Did you make dinner?”

 

Waverly sighed and rolled her eyes, nodding and motioning to the pans still on the stove “Yeah, help yourself.”

 

Wynonna had already headed in that direction and was lifting the giant utensil Waverly had used to cook with to her mouth. She looked back at her sister, then to where Nicole sat at the table looking defeated, then back to her sister and gave a curious head tilt “Did I interrupt something important?”

 

“No” Nicole shook her head, standing now from the chair. She reached for her coat again “I was just-”

 

“Let me guess? Leaving?” Wynonna gave an overly enthusiastic grin as she stared at Nicole, the utensil of food still held just in front of her mouth “Do I get a prize?”

 

Nicole rolled her eyes. She slid her coat on then moved over to Waverly. She slid her hand gently down Waverly’s arm, catching her gaze softly and giving her a nod “I promise” She mouthed to her before leaning in to kiss her lightly on the lips. She turned and offered a wave back toward the kitchen “Goodnight, Wynonna.” She looked back at Waverly and gave her an almost shy smile before she moved toward the front door and made her exit.

 

Wynonna watched her go with a mouth full of food. She shook her head, licked her lips, then spoke around the food she was chewing “Does she not like me? I mean that would be par for the course here in Purgatory but she didn’t grow up here so I think it’s a little too early for me to have offended her.”

 

“She likes you” Waverly huffed and moved back to the kitchen. She started gathering up the papers she had spread out and stuffing them back in the folder. “She’s just got a lot going on.”

 

“Like fighting demons and keeping this town safe?” Wynonna asked in a mockingly sympathetic tone.

 

“She does keep this town safe, okay?” Waverly growled, fixing her sister with a glare. “Just because she’s not the almighty Earp heir sending demons back to Hell with one sarcastic quip at a time doesn’t mean she’s not protecting the people here.”

 

“What crawled up your ass and died?” Wynonna lifted a lip in annoyance at her sister’s attitude. “Was it Nicole? Did you guys go there already?”

 

Waverly shoved passed her sister, using her shoulder to run right into her in hopes of knocking her backwards or at least having the pan fall out of her hands so she couldn’t finish her food. “I’m going to bed. Maybe while you’re down here you could start thinking about how you treat everyone in this town. There’s a reason everyone hates you.”

 

“Not everyone” Wynonna called after her sister but she had already stormed up the steps. She let out a sigh and looked back into the pan of food she held to her chest as if it were a newborn baby. She stuck her tongue through her teeth and crossed her eyes briefly, making a face at Waverly even if she couldn’t see it. “You’d think someone getting laid so much wouldn’t be so grumpy.”

 

She moved across the kitchen and plopped down at the table. She kicked her feet up, put the pan on her stomach, and continued using the over sized spoon to shovel food into her mouth. She noticed the beer that Nicole had left unfinished and reached for it. She took a swig and as she set it down she noticed a piece of paper on the floor. She grunted as she tried to reach for it without tipping the pan over and spilling the contents on the floor.

 

She managed to grab onto it, after some grunting and struggling, and sat upright in the chair again. She turned it over and immediately straightened in the chair. She set the pan down and grabbed the paper in two hands. She stared in disbelief. Her sister was doing research on her own. The subject of her research was not what she would have ever expected. Waverly was digging into Nicole’s past and she had a sneaking suspicion it was without Nicole’s knowledge.

 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.


	3. Chapter 3

“How did I know I’d find you here?” Wynonna cocked her head to the side and gave her sister a sarcastic smile.

 

Waverly, who was leaning against Nicole’s desk in the extra office chair she had taken from one of the empty rooms, turned now to look at her sister. They had barely spoken since their little tiff in the kitchen the night prior. She let out a sigh and shook her head “What do you want, Wynonna?”

 

“Okay, that attitude has to go. It’s not like I am interrupting anything” Wynonna motioned to where Nicole sat, looking over some paperwork, trying not to listen to the conversation that was happening literally six inches from her. “She’s at work so I knew the risk of seeing you two naked was very low.”

 

Nicole blushed at that. She stood up, cleared her throat, and motioned behind her “I need to go make a copy. You two…” She gestured between the sisters and shook her head “Talk. Quietly, please?” She glared at Wynonna, obviously upset about the naked comment. “I am, after all, in my place of work.”

 

Wynonna gave a limp wave goodbye in a way of shooing Nicole away. She waited until the cop was out of sight before she plopped down into the chair Nicole had just vacated “Hey” She stared a little more seriously at her little sister “You mad at me still?”

 

Waverly rolled her eyes. She had been tapping her fingers against the top of the desk, trying to ignore her sister, but it wasn’t working. She had never been good at ignoring anyone. She slowly looked up at her sister, keeping her face neutral as she spoke “I was never mad. You can be really annoying, you know?”

 

“That’s news?” Wynonna perked an eyebrow and breathed out a laugh. She looked over her shoulder to make sure Nicole wasn’t coming back yet then looked back to her sister “Look, I’m sorry. I know you have a lot going on and I know Nicole has a lot going on and I know that means you want to help her. I get it. But I have a lot going on too” She shrugged, letting out a soft sigh “There is a lot going on for everyone, let’s just agree on that. But, you’re right, I get obnoxious when I’m stressed. I’ll try to cool it.”

 

Waverly smiled ever so slightly at her sister. After all this time she loved that Wynonna still had a soft spot for her. She gave a nod of acknowledgment then shrugged “So why were you looking for me?”

 

“Oh” Wynonna stood up now and smiled that devious little smile she got when she knew something about someone they didn’t necessarily want her to know “I discovered your little project you’ve been working on in secret and we need to talk.”

 

Waverly’s heart jumped into her throat. How had Wynonna found out what she was doing? Her eyes went wide and she stood up too “Look, I was going to tell you-”

 

“Not here, baby girl” Wynonna looked around the room then back to her sister. “There are snitches everywhere.”

 

Waverly looked at her sister with an annoyed face. They were in a police station filled with cops. Of course she would say there were snitches everywhere. Wynonna still hated the police even after the time she had spent working alongside them. She relented a shrug of surrender and motioned to the door “Lead the way.”

 

Wynonna smiled, turned toward the door, then started her march like walk out of the building. They nearly ran right into Nicole in the hallway. She gave the woman a smile then motioned to Waverly behind her “I am going to borrow her for a few if that is alright with you.”

 

Nicole rolled her eyes and motioned for the two of them to continue on their way She gave a glance at Waverly. “I’ll call you later?”

 

Waverly nodded and touched Nicole’s arm on the way by. She followed her sister out into the streets of Purgatory. She had almost expected her to stop and start talking but she didn’t. She kept walking across the street toward Shorty’s bar. Waverly had to jog to keep up with Wynonna’s brisk pace.

 

The two of them walked into the bar, waved at Doc, and kept on marching. Wynonna lead her sister down into the secret basement of the bar where Doc was doing his mad science stuff. Once they were both shut away safely in the room, Wynonna turned around and looked at her sister with curiosity on her face “When exactly were you going to tell me about your side project?”

 

“As soon as it was relevant?” Waverly offered with a guilty shrug as she moved to sit on one of the bar stools that had been moved down there.

 

“And when was it going to become relevant?” Wynonna breathed out in half amusement as she moved to lean against the support beam that held the floor above them up.

 

“When we were on the way?” Waverly offered another shrug.

 

“On the way?” Wynonna perked an eyebrow out of complete confusion. “What did you find out? Where are we going?”

 

Waverly perked an eyebrow too. They were both obviously not getting what the other was saying “I have to pick a new destination so I don’t know where we are going yet.”

 

“Pick a destination?” Wynonna’s head tilted to the side “Are we hiding a body?”

 

“No?” Waverly half asked, half answered her sister. “Although with you around I wouldn’t be surprised if that ended up happening anyway.”

 

“Oh so now you think I’m going to kill her?” Wynonna huffed out and threw her hands in the air “I know you don’t believe me, but I do actually like her! Although, if what you found out is bad enough I guess I would probably end up killing her for hurting you.”

 

“Who is hurting me?” Waverly shook her head, blinking a few times in confusion. “I wouldn’t take us anywhere dangerous!”

 

“Why are we going anywhere at all?” Wynonna howled out now. “Does she have to flee the country? And if so why are the both of us going with her?”

 

“Who is fleeing?” Waverly put her hands up, waving them slightly and giving her head a shake. “Hold on, I am so confused Wynonna. What on earth are you talking about?”

 

“You playing private eye” Wynonna reached into her pocket and pulled out the folded piece of paper she had found on the kitchen floor the night before. She handed it over and shrugged “Wait, what are you talking about?”

 

“The vacation I’m planning behind your back” Waverly said with a shrug as she took the paper. She unfolded it and when she saw the picture of Nicole and the information that had been printed beside it, her heart froze. She drew in a deep breath and paused. Wynonna had busted her. She bit her lip and looked up at her sister with guilt all over her face “I can explain.”

 

“You damn well better” Wynonna folded her arms across her chest now. “Also, you’re planning a vacation behind my back? I am not a child. You can’t force me to go.”

 

Waverly nodded, waving her hand with a quick flick of her arm as if brushing off the subject. She looked down at the paper in her hands and sighed “I wanted to know why Nicole wouldn’t tell me about her past.”

 

“Did you find anything?” Wynonna asked softly now. She was genuinely concerned. She knew how much her sister liked Nicole and if she was some sort of murderer or something she really did not want to have to kick her ass for lying to her sister.

 

“Not really” Waverly said with a defeated shake of her head. She looked back up at her sister and shrugged “It’s weird. It is almost like she didn’t exist until the age of ten. She was a child of the state who ended up in an orphanage run by a really sweet old lady who ended up adopting her. She got good grades, graduated early, volunteered at the police station until she was old enough to enter the academy, flew through the police training, top of her class, fastest rookie to break a hundred arrests...” She waved her hand to the side then lifted it to push some hair off her cheek “She was responsible for the arrest of one of the Nation’s most wanted felons. After that, she moved here.”

 

“Christ she’s more of a goody two shoes than you are” Wynonna curled her lip up in disgust.

 

“I’m serious, Wynonna” Waverly said with a frustrated huff. “By all accounts there is nothing here to be ashamed of. Definitely nothing here that’s too complicated to understand.” She shrugged and looked back down at the paper she held “Do you think she is ashamed of being adopted?”

 

“Listen, maybe her parents were shitty?” Wynonna offered, honestly trying to comfort her sister. “Maybe she doesn’t like talking about that. Not everyone understands that their messed up childhood isn’t their fault. Maybe she thinks her parents’ actions are somehow linked to her and that is why she is so determined to be deputy do-right all the time?”

 

“Wynonna” Waverly huffed again.

 

“Waves, I’m serious here” Wynonna moved over to her sister and put her hands on her shoulders. She looked her straight in the eyes and in as serious of a tone as she had ever mustered in her life she spoke frankly “Baby girl, you found yourself a good one, okay? Don’t question it. Let her come to you about her torrid childhood when she is ready. Until then, you can ease your mind knowing your girlfriend is an even bigger overachieving dweeb than you are.”

 

Waverly was a little surprised at how firm Wynonna was being. She had seen many different sides of her sister over the years but this side was reserved for her alone. It was something small but it meant a lot to Waverly. She knew that when Wynonna spoke to her like this there wasn’t an ounce of sarcasm in anything she said. She nodded just once and offered her sister a smile “You’re right.”

 

“Of course I’m right” Wynonna pushed her hands off of Waverly’s shoulders, jolting her sister back slightly. She gave her a smirk then motioned above them to where Doc was bartending “Now if you excuse me the four shots of whiskey I had for breakfast are wearing off.”

 

Waverly laughed and gave an amused shake of her head. She motioned for her sister to go ahead and leave, following closely behind her. Once they reached the door at the top of the steps, she reached out and put a hand on her sister’s shoulder to stop her from opening it “Thanks, big sis.”

 

“It’s my job” Wynonna gave her a wink and did two quick finger guns. She realized what she was doing and immediately shook her hands in disgust and groaned “Damn it, Waverly. Look what you’ve done to me.”

 

Waverly beamed with amusement and pride “Don’t worry, your secret is safe with me.”

 

Wynonna grumbled and kicked the door open. She marched right over to the bar, grabbed the bottle Doc was pouring drinks from, and took a long drink straight out of it.

 

Waverly watched in amusement for a moment. She sister was pretty damn amazing. Plus, she was totally right. Nicole was a good person. She shouldn’t question that. Some people had trauma or bad memories in their lives and she needed to respect that. Nicole would come to her when she was ready. She hadn’t lied to her yet, after all.

 

Waverly walked by her sister, gave her a wink and some playful finger guns, which got a groan out of Wynonna, then headed for the door of the bar. She was going to go buy some flowers for her girlfriend and send them to the station. She wanted her to know just how special she thought Nicole was.

 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

 

_ “Don’t do this” Teenager Nicole pleaded with the man who stood there in the dark in front of her. She had been woken by a loud bang and a scuffle. When she came down the steps she had seen her grandmother fighting off the man. She had hurried over to help her grandmother but it was too late. The man had stabbed her. _

 

_ “You’ve never stood up to me before. Why now?” The man hissed out, holding his knife up to protect himself in case Nicole decided to be brave. _

 

_ “I didn’t know any better before” Nicole cried out softly. She wiped a tear from her eye, leaving behind the blood that was still wet on her hands from where she had held her dying grandmother just moments earlier. “It’s not too late for you.” _

 

_ “It’s been too late for years” The man said with a dry laugh. His eyes flickered from where Nicole stood to the safe he stood in front of in the garage. He looked between the two of them a few times then back to the teenager “This is the last time, I promise.” _

 

_ “If I had a dollar every time I heard you say that you wouldn’t need to be killing and robbing an innocent old woman” Nicole barked out, suddenly strengthened by the anger she had held inside for so many years. _

 

_ “Innocent my ass” The man mumbled. He decided to put the knife on top of the safe so he could attempt to put in the combination to unlock it. His eyes flickered back and forth, keeping an eye on Nicole’s movements as he worked. _

 

_ “Why?” Nicole stood there, tears coming out of her eyes even though she was trying to put on a brave front. “Why do you insist on ruining my life? I was doing good here. I was happy. I was loved by her.” _

 

_ “She doesn’t know how to love anyone” The man said with a shake of his head. He finally popped the safe open and gave a smack of his hand against the side of it in excitement. He started to dig out the items that were held within, stuffing them into the bag he had brought with him. He looked up at Nicole between movements and nodded “You can come with me, squirt. You and me. We could have a good life together.” _

 

_ “A life of breaking into people’s houses? Robbing innocent old ladies? What’s next? A bank!” Nicole folded her arms as she watched the man load her grandmother’s life savings into the bag. “Is that really the life you envisioned for yourself? For me!?” _

 

_ “All I’ve ever wanted was for you not to have to want for anything” The man stood now, kicking the door to the safe closed. He slung the bag over his shoulder and moved closer to Nicole. His hand reached out and he touched at her cheek “For my girl to be treated like a princess.” _

 

_ “I’m not your girl” Nicole hissed, pulling herself away from the man’s touch. She shook her head in disgust and spit in his face. “I stopped being your girl the moment you dumped me off at the orphanage.” _

 

_ “It was for your own good” The man said as he motioned around the nice house they stood in. “Look where you are. A fancy house in a rich neighborhood. You go to the best school in the city. You drive a luxury car.” _

 

_ “No thanks to you” Nicole growled. “She did all of this for me. She took me in when you didn’t want me. She loved me. She cared for me. She taught me how to be a good person. She did everything you failed to do!” _

 

_ “She did everything she failed to do with me” The man rolled his eyes. He turned away to grab the knife from the safe again before looking back at Nicole. “You were her do over, squirt. She fucked me up so she got to learn from her mistakes and do it right the second time.” _

 

_ “Fucked you up?” Nicole muttered softly, her face curling into confusion. “What do you mean?” _

 

_ “You think it was an accident you ended up at an orphanage where the little old lady fell so in love with you she wanted to adopt you right away?” He scoffed at that. He moved to lean against the hood of Nicole’s car that was parked in the garage and looked at the girl with a satisfied, twisted smile “There’s a reason she told you to tell people she was your grandmother and not your mother once she adopted you.” _

 

_ “Because she was too old to be my mother, obviously” Nicole shook her head. No one would have believed they were mother and daughter. _

 

_ “Oh come on” The man laughed and pushed off the hood of the car. He walked over to Nicole and tapped her on the forehead “I know you have brains in there. The reason the adoption was so effortless was because it wasn’t an adoption at all.” _

 

_ “What?” Nicole blinked and stepped back from the man. She suddenly felt sick. She hadn’t been adopted? _

 

_ The man smirked and turned away again. He moved back to the hood of the car where he had left the bag and scooped it up. He took the knife then looked back at the girl trying to piece it all together “She’s my mother, Nicole. Your actual, real, true grandmother. She wasn’t even adopting you. All of the paperwork was to legally change your name so I couldn’t claim you anymore. She thought she was saving you.” _

 

_ Nicole felt sick. Her head was whirling. She had been lied to by the one person in her entire life she had ever trusted. She blinked a few times, trying to focus herself, but it wasn’t working. She felt like she was going to pass out. She reached beside her, trying to find something to hold herself upright. _

 

_ The sounds of sirens were heard approaching in the distance. The police that Nicole had called for when she had first heard her grandmother and father fighting were finally on the way. She blinked and looked up at the man so proudly watching her spiral. She shook her head, trying to find words but coming up empty. _

 

_ Her father heard the sirens too. He looked over his shoulder then back to his daughter. He shrugged and motioned behind him to the garage door “Last chance, squirt. Come with me?” _

 

_ “Leave” Nicole finally choked out. “I never want to see you again. I will kill you if you ever come looking for me.” _

 

_ Her father let out a laugh at that. She couldn’t hurt a fly. “Sure you will” He hissed in a mocking tone before punching in the code to open the garage. He waited until it was high enough to slide under then disappeared.  _

 

Nicole clenched her eyes closed as tightly as she could to try and push the images of her father away. That had, by far, been the worst night of her young life and she had wished to never have to relive it. But now as she waited for Waverly to arrive at her apartment so she could tell her about her past, it was all she could think about. What would Waverly think of her once she knew the truth?

 

She wouldn’t have to wait long to find out. There was a soft knock at her door and her eyes lifted from where she sat at the little counter top bar that separated her kitchen from her living room. She cleared her throat and hollered toward the door “It’s open, Waves.”

 

Waverly opened the door cautiously. She peeked around it and when she saw Nicole sitting at the counter, looking a little upset, she frowned and quickly made her way over to her girlfriend “Hey, what’s wrong? Look, you don’t have to tell me if you’re not ready. I pushed too much, I’m sorry. I can wait until you’re ready.”

 

“No” Nicole waved her off then moved to stand from the counter. She moved the few feet to her couch and plopped down with a thud. She gave the cushion next to her a pat then looked at Waverly in anticipation of her joining her.

 

Waverly did so timidly. Her eyes never left her girlfriend as she moved. Even when she sat she hardly blinked. She reached out and took Nicole’s hand between both of hers and gave it a squeeze “I mean it. You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to tell me.”

 

“The person I shot” Nicole started without a pause, feeling as if she wouldn’t get it out if she didn’t just blurt it out “The person I knew?” She glanced at Waverly for recognition. When she got a nod, she licked her lips and drew in a breath before letting it out heavily “It was my dad.”

 

That was the last thing Waverly had expected considering what she had found out about her past. She blinked and tried to push the shocked look she knew her face held away “Oh…” She breathed out, giving a single nod “Okay.”

 

Nicole was a little confused that Waverly wasn’t more shocked. Then again she was relieved she wasn’t running away in terror. She perked an eyebrow and shrugged “Okay? That is all you have to say?”

 

Waverly let out a breath that sounded like a laugh and she smiled very tenderly. She lifted one of her hands and stroked at Nicole’s cheek gently “My sister shot my dad before she reached puberty. Maybe I didn’t have a normal childhood because that’s not an odd thing to hear for me. In fact, given my childhood and what I just heard about yours, I feel like kids not shooting their dads might be considered abnormal behavior.”

 

“This isn’t funny” Nicole rolled her eyes, pulling her hand out of Waverly’s.

 

“I’m serious, Nicole” Waverly said softly, not raising her voice. She did not want to argue when Nicole was opening up to her. So she reached out and took a hold of her girlfriend’s hand again and was pleased when she was met with no resistance. “If that is your big juicy secret then you highly underestimated my ability to cope with it.”

 

“That’s not everything” Nicole said with a heavy sigh. She ran her free hand through her hair and swallowed the lump in her throat. She looked back at her girlfriend’s patient eyes and bit her lip “And I wasn’t a kid when I shot him”

 

Waverly nodded and gave Nicole a soft smile “Tell me everything. Or whatever you feel comfortable with. I’m here to listen and not judge. I have no room to judge.”

 

Nicole nodded, licking her lips again. She drew in a deep breath, closed her eyes, considered where to start, then let out the breath she had been holding. When she opened her eyes and saw Waverly still sitting there completely patient she smiled ever so slightly. She meant it. Waverly wasn’t going to run.

 

“When I was young, like really young, before I knew any better, my father had me help him pull off robberies. I would knock on people’s doors in the middle of the night, cry, say I was lost, and insist they come with me to find my dad because he was just down the block. As soon as they left their houses, my dad would creep in and take whatever was valuable.” Nicole rubbed at the back of her neck, her eyes dropping to her own knees as she spoke because she did not want to see Waverly’s face. “I didn’t know what he was doing until I was about seven or eight. Once I figured it out I stopped helping him. He got mad at me, told me I wasn’t his daughter anymore, and dropped me off at an orphanage.”

 

Waverly nodded slowly and tried to keep her expression neutral in case Nicole looked at her. She was glad she knew why the first few years of Nicole’s life were unaccounted for now. She had started worrying that she had just appeared at the age of ten like some sort of alien or something. This explanation made way more sense and put her at ease at the same time.

 

When there was no response, Nicole looked up. She saw that Waverly was still there, still bright eyed and listening to every word she was saying. She bit her lip and drew in another breath. “I was adopted by the old lady that ran the orphanage within a year or two. She said we just clicked and she fell in love with me the moment she met me. Said I was meant to be her family.”

 

Waverly smiled, her hand moving now to slide across Nicole’s cheek and down her neck “I can relate to that feeling.”

 

Nicole smiled at that. She would have to circle back to that when she wasn’t pouring her heart out. “When I was sixteen, my adopted grandmother was murdered in a robbery at the house.”

 

“Oh no” Waverly gasped and put a hand to her mouth. She shook her head slightly. She had not read anything about that in Nicole’s file. “I am so sorry.”

 

Nicole just shrugged. Her smile fell and her eyes dropped back to her knees “It was my father. He knew my grandmother had a huge amount of money saved in the safe at her house. They fought that night. She was a tough lady” She smiled at the memory of how strong her grandmother actually was. She might have been physically small but she would put up a Hell of a fight for what she believed in. Kind of like Waverly. She looked at her girlfriend as the thought passed through her “You two would have gotten along well.”

 

“You think so?” Waverly moved a hand to her heart. She was absolutely touched that Nicole would say such a thing.

 

“Absolutely” Nicole said firmly. She licked her lips, leaned in to kiss lightly at Waverly’s mouth, then straightened up again. “The way you call me baby…” She nodded, biting at her lower lip “…it reminds me of when she used to call me that. It was her word for me. I don’t know why but it made me feel like she really considered me hers.” She drew in one more breath, paused for a moment to compose herself, and continued the story as she shook off the memory of her grandmother “He stabbed her in the fight. I came down the stairs just in time to see it. I held her as she died.” She closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath, fighting off tears.

 

“Oh baby” Waverly whispered, moving now to wrap both arms around Nicole from where she sat beside her. She pulled her in close, letting Nicole’s head come to rest against her shoulder, silently letting her know she wasn’t letting go. “I can’t even imagine.”

 

Nicole didn’t try to move. She let herself be comforted. She let herself be held. No one, outside of her grandmother, had ever made her feel safe. No one until Waverly had come into her life. She drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly, letting herself relax into Waverly.

 

“Is that why you became a cop?” Waverly asked once she realized that Nicole was done speaking. She had so many questions but she had not wanted to interrupt while Nicole was telling her story. But now that the story seemed to be over she dared ask.

 

Nicole shook her head. She pulled back out of Waverly’s embrace and looked at her “I had wanted to become a cop the moment I realized my dad was robbing people when I was seven.”

 

Waverly nodded slightly. She lifted a hand to push some of Nicole’s loose bangs from her face and smiled “That’s very noble of a seven year old. Did you feel vindicated when they arrested him for your grandmother’s murder?”

 

“That’s the biggest part” Nicole whispered, looking ashamed of herself. She removed herself from Waverly’s touch now completely and hunched over in defeat where she sat. She wiped at a tear that had trickled out and shook her head “I let him go that night, Waves. I could have stopped him. He put the knife down to open the safe. I could have stopped him but I didn’t. I let him go.” She was holding back tears now. She sniffled and glanced up to Waverly with shame painted on every crease of her face “And when the cops showed up and asked me what happened I told them it was a stranger.”

 

This shocked Waverly. Nicole Haught had never, as far as she knew, told a lie in her life. She hated lying. She was the most honest person she had ever met. Of everything Waverly had heard that night, this was the most shocking of it all. She looked stunned and it showed on her face. She managed to blurt out a soft “Why?”

 

“I don’t know” Nicole said with guilt dripping from her tone. “He’s family? He had just dropped a bombshell on me. The old lady that had adopted me? She was his mother. She was actually my grandmother, like, for real. Apparently they had been estranged. He claimed she had messed him up as a kid and that is why he had come back to rob her. Revenge for a shitty childhood I guess?”

 

“Woah” Waverly whispered softly. When Nicole nodded in agreement to the exclamation, Waverly scooted closer to her again. She put a hand on her back and shrugged “Hey, you were sixteen and your entire life you had been lied to. I don’t think anyone blames you for feeling conflicted about it all. I can’t say I would have been able to handle it any better. I mean you saw how I handled it when Bobo told me I wasn’t an Earp and I was a grown ass adult! I can’t imagine managing the weight of what you went through as a kid.”

 

Nicole drew in a breath and let it out heavily. She reached out and took a hold of one of Waverly’s hands and squeezed it tightly. “You know the sick and twisted part? I still don’t know to this day if either of them were really my family.”

 

“What do you mean?” Waverly asked tenderly.

 

“I mean how do I know this man was really my father?” Nicole offered with a shrug. “We never went to family gatherings. I don’t remember having cousins or aunts. I don’t think I met a single other relative my entire childhood. How do I know this man didn’t find me on the street and claim I was his kid just to use me to distract people while he ripped them off?”

 

Waverly’s brow creased together. She hadn’t even thought of that. Of course she hadn’t she was still processing everything else Nicole had just told her. She shook her head and looked back at her girlfriend “Did you ever ask?”

 

“Of course” Nicole nodded. “But now that I think about it, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway. I saw pictures of people in my grandmother’s house. She said they were her sisters and parents and grandparents. She told me they were mine too, now that she had adopted me, and one day I would meet them all. She told me stories of her ancestors and her childhood and…” She shrugged, letting out a sigh “That was enough for me because it was more of a real family than I had ever had with my father.”

 

Waverly nodded softly. Her hand moved slowly up and down Nicole’s back. There was so much to process. Nicole had been dead on when she had described her past as complicated.

 

“My first year on the force I was the best of the best” Nicole started talking again before Waverly could ask any more questions. She knew there was still one answer she could give her girlfriend. “It was one night my second year on the force. I had gotten a lot of offers to go elsewhere but I had decided to stay in the town I had grown up in. I was walking home when I saw someone in the shadows. I drew my gun and told whoever it was to freeze.”

 

Waverly licked her lips. Nicole was telling her about shooting her father now. She wouldn’t interrupt.

 

“He stepped out of the shadows, hands in the air, and a smirk on his lips. He told me he had been coming to see me, to congratulate me on becoming a cop, and that he wanted to ask me if I was ready to join him” Nicole let out a disgusted sigh and shook her head. “He said now that I was the man on the inside he could really get away with anything.”

 

She ran a hand back through her hair and glanced at Waverly. When she saw she was waiting on bated breath for more, she continued “He had been planning his greatest heist ever but needed someone to infiltrate the security on the building so he knew where the cameras were, time between patrols, police response time, stuff like that. He thought now that I was a cop I would help.” She shook her head “When I asked him what in the world made him think that he said because I had let him get away with murder.”

 

That stung to hear. Waverly winced at it. She could not even imagine the guilt that Nicole had been carrying around about that night and then to have it thrown in her face like that? It had to be unbearable. She shook her head and reached out to take one of Nicole’s hands “What a dick.”

 

Nicole let out a huff and nodded in agreement “To say the least. Anyway, we argued” She waved her hand to the side, wanting to keep going before she lost the nerve to finish. “After a while, once he realized I wasn’t going to help, he told me he was leaving again. He was one of the Nation’s most wanted. He had robbed banks and jewelry stores all over but had never been caught. He definitely made sure to rub that in my face.” She rolled her eyes at the memory of his smug smirk when he mentioned it to her.

 

Waverly reached for the cup of water that always sat on Nicole’s coffee table and took a drink. Her mouth was dry. She couldn’t imagine how Nicole was still talking.

 

“He went to run” Nicole said softly. “I told him I wouldn’t let him get away this time. That I was a cop now and that it was my duty to turn him in. He laughed in my face. He said that I couldn’t hide who I really was, that my genes were bad genes. That deep down, I liked the fact that I had let a murderer get away. Once I told him to get on the ground, he stood up and dared me to shoot him. I hesitated…” She licked her lips, clearing her throat that she now realized was dry, but kept going “…When he saw I wasn’t going to shoot him, he laughed again. He turned to walk away like he had that night in the garage when I was sixteen. This time, though, I fought back.”

 

Waverly’s eyes went wide. She bit her bottom lip and gave a nod before whispering “You shot him?”

 

Nicole nodded. She looked up at Waverly and nodded again “I had to.”

 

“Of course you did” Waverly said quickly. “It was the right thing to do.”

 

Nicole drew in a deep breath once more. She reached for the water Waverly held and took a long drink. She cleared her throat again then set down the cup “I was praised for it. My picture was everywhere, in every newspaper, all over the country. I was a hero! Every department wanted me on their squad. Yet…” She shook her head and let out a defeated sigh “The last thing I wanted to do was continue being a cop. What kind of animal puts their own father behind bars?”

 

“Wait” Waverly blinked and gave her head a shake. “You didn’t even kill him?”

 

“What?” Nicole shook her head, looking at Waverly curiously “No. What do you mean I didn’t even kill him? Of course not.”

 

“You said you shot him, I just assumed” Waverly shrugged.

 

“In the leg! So he couldn’t run” Nicole motioned to her own leg as if Waverly didn’t know what a leg was. “He didn’t deserve to die without atoning for his crimes. I got him locked away for three consecutive life sentences. My grandmother wasn’t the only person he had killed over the years.”

 

“Oh” Waverly said softly. She thought it over for a second then laughed and nodded slightly “Oh, okay. I mean, yeah, I understand not killing him but when you said you shot him I just assumed he was dead! But, yeah, it makes sense putting him behind bars and making him suffer.”

 

Nicole shook her head slightly, rolling her eyes and fighting off wanting to smile at her girlfriend. She was so sweet and innocent at times. “Waves, I’ve never killed anyone. I’ve only ever shot my gun once and it was right on target. Trust me, I avoid shooting anything if I can.”

 

Waverly thought about it for a second. She couldn’t recall a time when she had seen Nicole shoot a gun. She had seen her pull her gun out plenty of times. There was even that time she had a shotgun on hand the night the entire town had been poisoned. But thinking back on it she had never seen Nicole actually take a shot. She smiled at the thought. Even having the power to pull the trigger if need be, her girlfriend had always remained level headed. She really was an incredible person. “You’re pretty amazing. You know that, right?”

 

Nicole was a little stunned at Waverly’s words. She had just told her this horrific story about how shitty her family was growing up and Waverly still thought she was amazing. She let out a soft laugh and gave her head a shake “None of what I just told you was too much to handle?”

 

Waverly laughed and waved her hand in the air as if batting the words Nicole had just spoken right out of existence “Baby, please. You see what I’ve had to deal with” She motioned vaguely to the area around them, indicating her entire life and the town she had grown up in. “Besides, it’s not like you’re a criminal and you’ve been leading a double life and you’re lying to me about it. You’re a good, honest, amazingly smart and talented cop.” She smiled, reaching out for Nicole’s hand again. She gave it a soft squeeze as her eyes landed on Nicole’s with a sincere glint in them “You take my breath away.”

 

Nicole blushed ever so slightly. She had no idea why she had been so afraid that Waverly would freak out over her past. She should have known she would accept it with loving arms wide open. She really was perfect. “You’re pretty incredible yourself, you know?”

 

Waverly gave her a sideways smile and shrugged one shoulder up to her ear. Her head shook and she let out a soft laugh “You won the lottery as far as picking a girlfriend who can put up with a lot of shit goes.”

 

“Don’t I know it” Nicole said with a laugh. She leaned in and kissed Waverly’s mouth softly, letting it linger for just a moment. She felt like the luckiest girl in the world. Once she pulled back, she let out a sigh before her lips twisted into an amused smirk “Now, I want to talk about something you said earlier.”

 

“What is that, exactly?” Waverly asked curiously, though her smile never faded. She was just too damn happy and relieved that Nicole had finally opened up to her.

 

“About relating to my grandmother when she said she had fallen for me the moment she met me” Nicole’s eyebrow arched up slightly, now more curious than she was playful as she spoke.

 

Waverly blushed and pulled her bottom lip between her teeth. She dipped her chin and dropped her eyes away from Nicole for a moment. She let out the tiniest little laugh and gave a nod before looking back up at her girlfriend. She licked at her lips and gave a small shrug of surrender because she couldn’t deny that the words were true “Like that’s a secret? I thought you were a much better cop than that and figured it out right away.”

 

Nicole laughed, leaning in to touch a kiss to her forehead before nodding and pulling back just enough to be able to slide her finger under Waverly’s chin so she could hold her gaze “I fell for you the moment I saw you walking into Shorty’s my first day in town, Waves. I just like to know the feeling was mutual.”

 

Waverly felt her heart leap in her chest. It stunned her to hear that Nicole had fallen for her at first sight. Not only that, but it had been before they had ever met. Nicole had seen her across the street and fallen for her. Who knew how long that had been before she had gotten up the nerve to walk into Shorty’s and introduce herself. “I thought you didn’t like to wait when you saw something you wanted?”

 

Nicole smirked and offered just a single nod to her girlfriend. “Just because I don’t like to wait doesn’t mean I don’t know the value of patience.” She kissed at Waverly’s lips once more then stood from the couch now, leaving it at that. She moved to her kitchen and when she caught eyes with Waverly once more, she smiled. The girl had transfixed her from day one and she hoped that she never stopped looking at her the way she was at that very moment. “Hungry, baby?”

 

“Starved” Waverly whispered. She watched Nicole move around the kitchen to find something to eat. Every single beat of her heart fluttered as she watched her girlfriend move. She had thought she had understood what love felt like before but she was dead wrong. This right here, the feeling that was completely consuming her in that moment, was what love felt like. There was no doubt about it in her mind.

 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

The days following Nicole telling Waverly everything in her past could not have been more amazing. She felt like there was a weight lifted off her chest. She felt light and happy and like nothing in the world was bothering her. Her work had improved which didn’t seem possible considering how great she was at her job before. Waverly and herself had gotten closer, if that was even possible. Even she and Wynonna were getting along a lot more. Life was good. But she still felt like something was missing.

 

It wasn’t until one night at the Homestead that she figured it out. She was hanging out after dinner. Doc and Wynonna were arguing about something. Waverly was taking out the trash. Nicole was walking around the living room, looking at the all the family things that the Earps had collected throughout the years. She had seen all of these things before but had never really paid attention. They were things you expected to see when you walked into an old home. Family pictures, trophies, collectibles, and other random things that old families tended to accumulate throughout the years.

 

Nicole was stuck staring at one family photo in particular when Waverly came back into the house. She rolled her eyes at Doc and Wynonna’s bickering then moved over to Nicole. She perked an eyebrow and tried to look over her shoulder but since the woman was much taller than her she peeked around her arm “What you got there?”

 

Nicole looked up and showed Waverly the picture. It was a full on family photo that had more generations in it than she could count. She smiled softly and gave a shrug “There have been a lot of Earps, haven’t there?”

 

“A few” Waverly said with a shrug. She reached out and tapped one of the faces in the frame “Great grandpa Earp. Never met him, he was dead before I came into the picture.” She smiled softly and tapped the youngest looking Earp out of all the Earps “Wynonna.”

 

“No shit?” Nicole looked back at the picture and laughed softly. There in the front row being held by who Nicole assumed was their mother was a tiny infant. She had to be just a few weeks old. “That must be Willa then?” She asked, tapping the toddler next to their mother.

 

“Bingo” Waverly said with a nod. She looked at the picture a moment longer than shrugged. She looked up at Nicole and smiled “Why so curious?”

 

“I guess I never noticed it before is all?” Nicole shook her head and set the picture down. She took in a deep breath then turned and looked at Waverly. She bit her lip, glanced to where Wynonna had just yelled out “Christ, I told you I was sorry about your damn hat! Get over it or I’ll eat the next one that you buy!” Then looked back at Waverly. She motioned for her to follow quietly and the two of the quickly headed up the stairs to Waverly’s room.

 

“Are you really wanting a quickie with my sister and Doc both downstairs?” Waverly asked in a giggle as she closed the bedroom door behind her. “I mean I’m all for it. You just need to tell me the level of noise I am allowed to make.”

 

“No” Nicole stopped Waverly from pulling her shirt off over her head, which she had started doing as soon as the door was closed. She let out a laugh and rolled her eyes “Keep it in your pants, Earp.”

 

Waverly gasped indignantly at that. It was as if Nicole was indicating that she was the one that always initiated when that totally was not true.

 

“Shhh” Nicole put a hand to Waverly’s mouth before she could launch into whatever lecture she was about to give and stared at the door. She listened for a moment and when it seemed that the two downstairs were content to argue for a while she smiled and pulled her hand away from her mouth.  “Sorry, of course I want to have sex with you right now. I always do and that is no secret. But that’s not why I brought you up here.”

 

Waverly smirked at the confirmation that her girlfriend was just as big of a horn dog as she was then perked an eyebrow curiously “Then what’s the big deal? Why so hush hush?”

 

“I think I want to do something crazy” Nicole said softly, her eyes narrowing a bit as she thought about it. She was quiet a moment then nodded “And I want you to help me.”

 

“I’m in” Waverly said with a casual shrug. When Nicole looked surprised at how easily she had agreed, especially not even knowing what she wanted to do, Waverly laughed and rolled her eyes. “When I wanted to know if I was an Earp or not you were on board the entire way. You never once wavered. I want to support you the same way. So whatever it is, I’m in.”

 

Nicole leaned in and touched a few excited kisses to her girlfriend’s mouth then pulled back with a smile “You are amazing. I am so glad you said that because I am going to need your big, beautiful brain for this.”

 

Waverly smiled widely at that. She turned toward her bed, pulling Nicole’s hand as she moved so the girl would follow. Once they were both seated on the edge of the bed she took in a deep breath and let it out with a nod “Lay it on me, beautiful.”

 

“I want to find out about my family” Nicole blurted out excitedly. When Waverly didn’t seem too surprised, she continued “I want to take what I know and hopefully I will be able to find the truth. I want to know if that man was really my father, if my grandmother was really his mother. I want to know if I have any other family out there. I never met my mother” She shrugged, frowning at that a little. “I want to know if I’m the last remaining person in my family.”

 

Waverly smiled very softly. She could see both the excitement and urgency in her girlfriend’s eyes. This was the real deal. The woman she was crazy for was crying out for some sort of solidarity. She wanted to know where she belonged. She had never really had a home, not one that lasted longer than a few years, and this was her chance to figure out where she had come from. Waverly understood completely. “Of course” she finally whispered, nodding at her words. “I’ll do whatever I can to help.”

 

“Thank you” Nicole leaned in and touched a kiss to her girlfriend’s lips. It was quick and soft and nothing more. Until there was more. One after another she pressed kisses to Waverly’s mouth until the two of them fell into a full on make out session. It didn’t take long before hands were roaming up shirts and belts were being undone. As Nicole laid back, pulling Waverly on top of her as she did so, she pulled from the kiss and gave a smirk “Quickie?”

 

Waverly nodded, biting at her bottom lip lightly to fight off a smile.

 

“Be as loud as you want. Let’s see if we can shut those two up downstairs, shall we?” Nicole laughed, wiggling her eyebrows playfully.

 

“Deal” Waverly said with a laugh before lunging at her girlfriend’s mouth again. Maybe it was a little twisted but the idea of out screaming the two bickering in her kitchen really got her going.

 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

 

The kitchen door came flying open with a loud thud and a huge, lopsided stack of boxes and papers came stumbling in with a grunt.

 

“Woah, hey there” Wynonna hopped down from where she sat on the kitchen counter polishing off the breakfast Waverly had made that morning and made her way to the floating stack of paper with legs. “Need a hand?”

 

“That would be great. Thanks.” Waverly’s voice was heard from behind everything she was carrying.

 

“DOC! Waverly needs you!” Wynonna called out loudly.

 

“Funny” Waverly grumbled. She grunted as she shifted the stack of boxes in order to look around them and give her sister a glare. “You and I both know he isn’t even here.”

 

Wynonna gave her sister a beaming grin and nodded “I was going to see how long you would stand there waiting for him.”

 

“A little help!” Waverly squeaked in a panic now as some of the papers started to tip off her stack.

 

Wynonna lunged forward and grabbed a hold of whatever she could. She caught the first stack that was doing the most shifting then proceeded to take a box. When she did so, Waverly’s face came into view. She gave her head a tilt and laughed softly “Oh good, it’s still you. I was honestly beginning to worry that you had been possessed again, this time by a huge paper monster that was sucking your soul.”

 

Waverly rolled her eyes and ignored the possession comment as she took what was left in her arms and headed to the kitchen table. She let it fall out of her arms with a thud then turned around to take what Wynonna had removed from the stack “Is that your way of saying you miss me?”

 

Wynonna shrugged, trying to look as if she didn’t care but there was that little look in her eye that told Waverly that was exactly what she meant. She moved over to the cupboard now and pulled it open in search of the whiskey bottle she had stashed there.

 

Waverly sighed as she sat down and started to sort the papers into piles. The two of them were quiet for a moment, both shuffling around doing their thing, before Waverly cleared her throat “I know I’ve been a little absent lately where you and I are concerned. But this is important.”

 

Wynonna moved to sit next to her sister at the table. She set down two empty glasses, poured them both a bit from the bottle, then gave a nod as she settled the bottle on the table too. “Look, I know you and Nicole are like a real actual thing now and don’t get me wrong I like her and I am happy for you. I just…” She picked up the glass that she had poured whiskey into for herself and took a sip. She licked her lips, set the glass down, then looked back to her sister “You’ve maintained who you are so far. Please don’t lose yourself in her now. You can be you and still be in a relationship.”

 

Waverly reached out and put a hand on Wynonna’s where she held the glass of whiskey on the table. She looked at her straight in the eyes and though her stare was firm it was also soft “That’s not what’s happening here.”

 

“Really?” Wynonna glanced at the stacks of paper on the table as she pointed with one finger on the hand that still held her whiskey glass “Care to explain all this? Plus, every time she calls you drop everything and go to her.”

 

“I’m helping her with something important” Waverly said with a shrug, taking her hand away from Wynonna’s and reaching for her own glass now.

 

“More important than…” Wynonna reached down now and patted Peacemaker on her hip then raised an eyebrow at her sister in question.

 

“Of course not. Nothing is more important than that. This is a different kind of important, Wynonna. One day when all of the Revenants are gone and this town is safe again, you won’t need your little sister around to decode ancient text or tell you what certain symbols mean. Where does that leave me?” Waverly gave a shrug before taking a sip from her whiskey.

 

“Don’t be silly, Waves. This town will always need you somehow.” Wynonna nodded and reached for the whiskey bottle to get herself a refill. “I mean you are still the only person in this town to this day that looks even halfway decent in that Shorty’s shirt.”

 

“That’s not funny” Waverly said with a heavy sigh. “Is that really all you think of me as? Your sidekick or Nicole’s mindless girlfriend or a Shorty’s barkeep?”

 

“Of course not, baby girl” Wynonna set both the bottle of whiskey and the glass down with a little more strength than she meant to. She reached out and grabbed a hold of Waverly’s chin, pulling it until their eyes met. She gave her head a firm shake and spoke softly but with absolute conviction “You are the only person who I truly believe could do anything they set their mind to. Don’t you let me or Nicole or anyone else ever make you believe any different, you got that?”

 

Waverly just nodded in Wynonna’s hand. She hadn’t seen her sister look that determined and serious in a really long time. It was simultaneously scary and flattering. 

 

“Good” Wynonna let go of Waverly’s face and the heaviness of the moment passed like that. She grabbed for her glass of whiskey again then looked back at her sister. When she saw the still kind of shocked face on Waverly, she rolled her eyes and pointed to everything on the kitchen table “So what’s so important here?”

 

Waverly bit her lip as she thought about it. Wynonna didn’t know about Nicole’s past. She knew that Nicole kept it close to her chest and she would hate to think of her being upset if Nicole found out she told Wynonna her secret. At the same time, she was dying to tell her sister everything. She thought it over as she chewed her lip, trying to decide just how much information to divulge and how much to keep to herself.

 

“Fiiiiiine” Wynonna relented out a long sigh of the word and stood from the table. “You don’t have to tell me. You and your gal pal can continue playing secret agent man by yourselves.”

 

“No, wait” Waverly reached out and grabbed Wynonna’s hand before she could leave the room. She looked up at her sister and with a bit of a guilty look motioned for her to sit back down. Once she was settled at the table again, Waverly let out a sigh “Remember when I was looking into Nicole’s past? Well, we finally talked and she told me all about it and trust me…” Her eyes got wide and she shook her head to indicate that it was a lot “….But after that she came to me wanting me to help her look into her family. Who her real family is since she was adopted.”

 

Wynonna gave a nod of recollection to that. She looked at all of the papers and boxes and shook her head “Does she have about twelve thousand cousins or what? Because this is a lot of paperwork.”

 

“Turns out” Waverly continued, pulling a particular file off the top and flipping through some pages “The lady that adopted her didn’t have any record of who dropped her off. Since there were a few hundred babies born in the city she was born in, on the same day she was born, it’s been hard narrowing down who her parents might be.”

 

“A few hundred?” Wynonna’s eyes went wide in surprise at that.

 

“She’s from a huge city” Waverly said with a laugh. She closed the file she had opened then looked at her sister with a little smile. “So you see, my research has been pretty all consuming. I really feel like if I can find out where she was born and who was on the birth certificate that will help.” She sighed out and looked at the stacks of papers before her and shook her head. “I can only imagine how frustrated Nicole is right now. It’s not even my family and I’m already starting to feel hopeless.” She frowned and glanced at her sister before shrugging “But it’s important. Not only to her, but to me. To us. I feel like this last piece could really help solidify us. Our future, you know?”

 

“Better you than me” Wynonna stood again. She looked at the paper stacks and shuttered because research and reading and everything that came with it was like a nightmare to her.

 

Waverly looked back at the papers then to her sister, giving her a nod before speaking softly “Do you see why it’s important to me? Not because it’s important to Nicole and not because I don’t have a mind of my own. It’s because..”

 

“I know” Wynonna said with a quick nod. She knew how hard Waverly had taken the news that she might not be an Earp. She understood. She moved to her little sister and leaned down to place a kiss on top of her head before looking back at the papers once more. “Not knowing where you come from is worse than knowing you came from shit.” She looked down at Waverly and gave her a genuine smile before motioning behind her toward the front door “Do your thing here. I am going to go into town and see if Doc has made any progress.”

 

“Thank you” Waverly said with a soft smile. She watched her sister go and right when she reached the door she spoke again “Oh hey, please don’t tell Nicole I told you.”

 

“Well great, now what am I going to text my bff about?” Wynonna whirled around with an over exaggerated fake shocked look on her face.

 

Waverly rolled her eyes and laughed “Tease all you want, I know you like her.”

 

Wynonna made a face of disgust only because she hated being called out on her feelings and all that then turned back toward the door.

 

Waverly watched her sister leave, shaking her head in amusement before looking back to the papers. She let out a heavy sigh as she looked over the still monumental task at hand. Nothing was going to stop her though. She was going to get to the bottom of it.

 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

 

“Haught?” Nedley poked his head out of his office looking for Nicole. When she glanced up from her desk at her name, he motioned for her to come into his office. He let out a sigh as he waited for her and once she was in the room, he motioned to the chair on the other side of his desk “Have a seat.”

 

Nicole looked a little concerned as Nedley moved to shut the door behind her before moving to take his own seat. “Is everything alright?”

 

“Not really” He mumbled as he plopped into his seat. He looked tired. He was probably always tired. He was old and there was always weird shit going on in town. It was a miracle he had survived for thirty years in that town, he thought. He cleared his throat and looked at the young officer across from him. “I just got word that your access codes have been used to run a lot of background checks lately.”

 

Nicole nodded to that. She chewed her lip for a moment before shrugging slightly “I didn’t think that was a problem.”

 

“It’s not” Nedley said with a shake of his head “If it’s for police work. But some of the names you have been running don’t even live in town, Haught. So unless you’ve stumbled onto something big here, you shouldn’t be running anyone but residents here.”

 

Nicole frowned a little. She hadn’t thought it would hurt to run a few names through the system. Every time Waverly thought she had a lead she would take the name and put it into the computer to see if anything came of it. She had come up empty handed so far. “I’m sorry, sir. It was an independent project.” She shook her head and sighed “But I’ll stop. I was abusing my power.”

 

Nedley waved her off and gave his head a shake “If that’s your only abuse of power you’re doing much better than most of the people in the world who wear a badge.”

 

“Still” Nicole said with a firm nod. “I want to be a good cop and that means not crossing any lines I shouldn’t. I will use the tools we have for police work only from now on. I promise.”

 

“Oh I don’t care about that. This meeting is a formality. My boss wanted me to say something to you” He stood up and went to open the door again. He let out a sigh then looked back at Nicole before motioning his head to indicate she should leave. “You’ve been spoken to on the matter. Am I right to assume your login will not be making any more unnecessary inquiries?”

 

“Of course, sir” Nicole stood up and offered the man a smile as she walked by. “Thank you.”

 

“Oh hey” He called after her once she was nearly to her desk. When she turned to look back at him, he nodded to her files “Will you look at trying to finish the paperwork for the shoplifting incident last week?”

 

“Of course” Nicole nodded then moved to sit down. She watched from her desk until Nedley sat back at his own desk before she started searching for the file he had mentioned. She hated paperwork but she was sure him assigning her to finish it was a way of gentle punishment. When she found the file, she pulled it out and flipped it open with a sigh. Her eyes went wide when she realized there was nothing in the file but a small note scribbled on a half ripped piece of paper that read:

 

“Use my login instead..”

 

Under the words was Nedley’s system login information.

 

She blinked and looked back up at the man sitting at his desk. Her heart was starting to race where she sat. Nedley knew what she was doing. He must have learned something while recruiting her and had been waiting for her to start looking into it herself.

 

She smiled softly and ran a finger over the scribbled writing. It was nice to know that even if she didn’t find anything there was still someone looking out for her. He was more like family than most in her life and she was more thankful for that now than ever before.

 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

 

“My brain huuuuuurts” Nicole whined, closed her eyes, and fell backwards onto the floor from where she had been sitting huddled over stacks of paper. She moved her hands to her head, pressing her fingers against her skull just above her ears, rubbing there gently.

 

Waverly let out a sigh and dropped the paper she had been staring at too. She looked around where they sat in the middle of Nicole’s living room floor and blinked a few times “I have decoded mysterious languages, learned incantations to defeat demons, discovered secret powers that were trapped inside bones, and learned how to make a witches brew and yet I still can’t find your parents. This is impossible.”

 

“Maybe I really am a werewolf and I have been stuck in human form my entire life because no one from my pack taught me how to turn” Nicole grumbled. Her eyes came open and she smiled when she was greeted by her cat’s face really close to her own. She reached out and grabbed a hold of the pet, sitting up now to place the cat in her lap, and scratching behind her ears.

 

“Don’t be silly” Waverly said with a roll of her eyes. “You are human. I don’t think I could handle you being a werewolf. Beauty and the Beast freaked me out when I was a kid. I mean, she falls in love with an animal. That is just not right.”

 

Nicole laughed softly, her fingers still going to work on her cat’s head, much to the liking of the cat. “Are you saying you’ll dump me if I’m any sort of mystical creature?”

 

“No” Waverly got to her feet, high stepped a stack of papers, leaned over to kiss Nicole’s head, then headed to the kitchen, “Just the animal ones. I am so not into beastiality.”

 

Nicole had lifted the cat and was now kissing it’s face. When Waverly said beastiality, she paused what she was doing and looked over at her. Her lips were still puckered and she blinked a few times before letting her face drop into a laugh “Despite what this looks like, neither am I.”

 

Waverly laughed softly at that. Her girlfriend was an outright nerd and the more she got to see of that the more she liked it. After filling up her cup with water, she moved through the apartment to return to her spot. She cleared her throat and reached for another paper. “Okay let’s go over it again.”

 

“Waves” Nicole sighed and let her cat run free before turning to look at her girlfriend. “It’s getting late. Maybe some rest will help us recharge. Plus I have patrol early tomorrow so I know I should get some sleep.”

 

Waverly pouted but relented without much of a fight. They had been staring at the paperwork for hours on end. Sometimes stepping away and resetting your eyes could help. She set down the paper she had been looking at then stood up from her spot again. She reached her hand down to her girlfriend and smile “Let’s go get you into bed.”

 

Nicole grinned and reached for Waverly’s hand. She gave a tug to pull herself to her feet and once she stood she gave a playful growl and in one swift movement scooped Waverly off her feet and into her arms like she was carrying her bride on their wedding day.

 

Waverly squeaked out a laugh, wrapping her arms around Nicole’s neck as the girl carried her toward the bedroom “Or maybe we won’t be getting any rest?”

 

“Sorry, my animal instinct took over. Maybe I’m starting to finally change!” Nicole gave an exaggerated happy grin, her eyes widening enthusiastically.

 

“Shut up” Waverly said with a laugh as she swatted at Nicole’s chest. “I am open to a lot of role play scenarios but that is where I draw the line.”

 

“Really?” Nicole asked with a soft laugh. “I mean not that I am into that but you actually have a line where role play is concerned?”

 

Waverly let out a laugh at that “It’s your fault, you know?”

 

“Mine!?” Nicole gasped in playful offense as she turned the corner into the bedroom and headed toward the bed. She gave a little toss and Waverly landed on the bed safely with a bounce.

 

“Yes, you! You gave me a sexual awakening” Waverly said with a nonchalant shrug as if that should have been obvious. “I blame you for everything.”

 

Nicole rolled her eyes. She stood at the side of the bed, looking down at Waverly with a smirk on her face “Well then get ready for another awakening, my love. I’m gonna rock your world tonight.”

 

“Oh really?” Waverly laid back on the bed, her elbows propping herself up as she stared up at her girlfriend and tried to fight off a smirk.

 

“Tonight” Nicole lifted her hands, curling her fingers to make them look like claws. She bared her teeth and gave her a growl “I make you one of the pack!” With that she threw her head back and let out a playful howl before leaping onto the bed in a gentle attack on her girlfriend.

 

Waverly screamed out a loud laugh and wrapped her arms around her girlfriend when she landed on top of her. She knew she was frustrated with the fact that they were making no real headway on finding out about Nicole’s family but at least her girlfriend was still in good spirits. It was goofy moments like this that made Waverly want to find answers even more.

 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

 

_ The night was foggy but it wasn’t cold. There weren’t any sounds but there was plenty of light. There wasn’t any particular indication to where exactly Nicole was. All she knew was she was somewhere safe. Somewhere warm. She felt like she was wrapped in a tight blanket that was being held on a cloud. _

 

_ She opened her mouth to speak, to call out to someone, but no words came out. Instead it was just a soft cry. Nicole blinked in surprise at that. It sounded almost like a baby cry. _

 

_ The cry got someone’s attention. There were suddenly two sets of hands and two faces above her. That is when she realized she was laying down. Where was she? What had happened to her? When she saw the faces peering down at her she tried to focus on them. She couldn’t make out any distinct features on either of the people that were there. All she knew was she felt loved. She felt these two beings above her were keeping her safe. They were caring for her. _

 

_ When she opened her mouth again to talk there was once again only a cry that came out. A baby cry. She blinked and tried to sit up now but she didn’t seem to have that ability yet. She kind of seemed paralyzed. All she could do was lay there. Panic was starting to set in for Nicole. She had no idea where she was, who these people were, and what had happened to her that had taken away her ability to move. _

 

_ She reached up. Maybe she could get the people above her to notice that she was awake. She gave her hand a wave, trying to get their attention. Her hand was small. Much smaller than it usually was. She blinked again in confusion and pulled her hand close to her face to examine it. It was tiny. It looked like a baby hand. _

 

_ “She’s waking up” One of the voices said softly. It wasn’t distinctly male or female. It was just light and airy. There was an ethereal calm to it. In fact everything seemed to have that feeling. Almost like she was floating on a cloud in Heaven where nothing bad could ever happen. Wait, was she dead? _

 

_ “Take her” Another voice spoke. It might have been the same one, there was no distinction between the voices still. _

 

_ “Is he ready?” That had to be a different voice because if not than someone was talking to their self. _

 

_ “He will be” An answer came. There was no way to tell how many were talking. The beings that stood above her were not in her sight line any longer. _

 

_ “He will protect her. He will make sure she grows up and becomes what she is meant to be.” _

 

_ Suddenly another face appeared. There was a hint of a smile even though there were no real features on the being. Nicole knew it was smiling at her though. _

 

_ “Go now before they come for her.” _

 

_ There was a sudden rush of air. Again there was no sound, just light. The lights didn’t seem to be moving but Nicole could tell she was moving. She was being moved somewhere by something, at least. She still had no movements except the ability to move her arm. _

 

_ Just as suddenly as the air had rushed around her, it stopped. She was settled. _

 

_ Then the light was gone. It was dark and it was cold and there was suddenly way too much sound. Nicole blinked a few times where she lay. She was alone and she was scared. She opened her mouth to call out and again only a cry came from her lips. A baby cry. _

 

_ “Hey there little one” A man’s voice suddenly came to her. She looked around. She saw a dark figure move above her. She couldn’t make out any features but she could tell it was a man. She didn’t feel quite as safe anymore but there was a hint that this man was there to protect her. He picked her up and it was obvious now she was in fact a baby.  _

 

_ The man carried her gently through the darkness. Nicole could see houses and hear cars and she knew that she was no longer where she had been before. She was on Earth, she assumed. She did her best to cling to this man but with no real strength all she could do was lay there against him and watch the world move by as he carried her. _

 

_ Finally, after a journey longer than she knew, the man stopped. He stepped into a dark house and flipped on a light. He had a hood over his head and he peeked out of the windows to make sure they weren’t followed. Once he felt they were safe he turned around and looked at the baby. “I am going to make sure you’re alright, little one.” _

 

_ He stepped with Nicole now into the light. He set her down on a table, or maybe a couch, then reached out to unzip the hoodie he wore. He pulled off the hood then looked back at Nicole with a smile “You’re safe now.” _

 

Nicole shot up in bed with a loud gasp. Her eyes were wide and though it was the middle of the night she felt like she could see every single detail in the dark room where she laid next to Waverly.

 

“What is it?” Waverly sat up too, Nicole’s jolt having woken her up. She looked around in a panic, thinking someone was breaking in before she realized that Nicole wasn’t jumping up to grab her gun to defend them. She took in a deep breath and shook her head “Are you okay? Did you have another bad dream.”

 

“Holy shit” Nicole’s chest was heaving as she pulled deep breaths into her lungs. She looked over at Waverly looking completely stunned. 

 

“What is it, baby?” Waverly asked timidly. She was a little unnerved at how wide eyed Nicole looked. She looked like she had seen a ghost.

 

“I know who my father is” Nicole mumbled out softly.

 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

 

The next morning, Nicole stormed into the police department with more determination than she might have ever had in her life. A few people had attempted to say hello to her but she hadn’t even acknowledged them on the way by. She had her eyes set on one thing and one thing only and she wasn’t going to let anyone slow her down.

 

She marched right into Nedley’s office and slammed the door closed behind her. She stared at the man with a fierce glare in her eyes. There was no question that she had come there for him and him alone. She put her hands on her hips, perked her eyebrow in a challenging matter, then gave her head a nod to let him know she was waiting on him.

 

“I will have to get back to you” Nedley said into the phone. He nodded a few times against the receiver and finally offered the person on the other end a smile even though they couldn’t see it. “Yes. I will call you back as soon as I know more.” He finally moved to drop the receiver into its place on his desk then looked back at Nicole completely unphased by the way she had marched into his office.

 

Nicole opened her mouth to unleash the speech she had practiced all morning and on her way over to the department but was cut off before she could get a single word out when Nedley lifted his hand up to stop her. She cocked her head to the side curiously at that. When his hand motioned for her to take a seat, she did so without hesitation. She settled in her seat then leaned forward, opening her mouth again to start talking but was once more cut off by him lifting his hand to keep her silent.

 

He gave her a calm nod of his head once he realized she was going to stay quiet. He folded his hands together in front of him on his desk. His eyes were locked on her face and the two of them sat quietly for a few seconds before he smiled just the slightest bit and cleared his throat “I know I have a lot of explaining to do.”

 

~.~.~.~.~.~.


	5. Chapter 5

“Well?” Nicole gave a shrug, motioning with her hand toward Nedley as if trying to urge him to talk. They had been sitting there in silence for what felt like a lifetime after he had said he had some things to explain. It had only been a few seconds in reality but when the secret to who you really are was hanging it the balance it tended to feel like forever to have to wait for.

 

“Was it a dream?” Nedley asked softly, kicking back in his chair now and bouncing against it lightly.

 

“What?” Nicole wasn’t really sure what he meant. She stared at him staring at her and she gave her head a shake “You mean searching for answers about my past when you have been sitting here with information the entire time? No I wouldn’t quite call that a dream.”

 

Nedley laughed calmly. He was not at all phased by Nicole’s hostility. He was sure he would be upset too had he just discovered someone he had trusted had known who he was all along. “No I meant the epiphany you had about me. Was it in a dream or a scattered memory? Because the paper trail is non-existent so I know you didn’t happen across it accidentally.”

 

Nicole started to ask what again but stopped. Her head tilted to the side in thought for a moment then she licked her lips and let out a huff “Then why did you give me your login?”

 

Nedley smirked slightly and just shrugged “I liked watching you work. You’re smarter than even I thought you were.”

 

“Not too smart, obviously, if I was looking down a dead end road” Nicole huffed again, falling back against her chair in defeat.

 

“But your instincts are good” Nedley leaned forward in his chair now, pointing at her as he spoke. “You took the most logical path. The one that made the most sense to you. You followed your gut feeling, right?”

 

Nicole nodded just once, her eyes narrowing a bit as she studied Nedley’s face. He seemed excited about all of this.

 

“In fact you’ve always had good instincts, right? That feeling in your gut telling you which choice to make.” He stood now, putting his hands in his pockets as he paced back and forth behind his desk.

 

“Yeah” Nicole said with a little shrug of her shoulders. “I just figured that was my conscious. I thought everyone had something that told them right from wrong.”

 

“They do” Nedley shrugged and gave a smile to Nicole. “But it can be influenced. It can be changed or manipulated. Yours has never steered you wrong.”

 

“Are you kidding me?” Nicole let out a breath of a laugh that dripped more with disdain than amusement. “I let a murderer go free because he was my father.”

 

“You were supposed to” Nedley said with a little point to Nicole again. He smiled widely and leaned now against his desk with both palms pressed to the top of it to hold himself up “Everything you’ve ever faced in your life has been on purpose. And you’ve passed every single time.”

 

“Wait” Nicole held up a hand to stop him now. She leaned forward in her chair and looked up at the man with both intrigue and confusion in her eyes. “How is letting a murderer go a good thing? And what on Earth do you mean everything has been on purpose in my life? What do you mean I passed? I was being tested?”

 

“Exactly” Nedley pushed off the desk and stood upright now with a grin on his face so wide it almost looked fake.

 

“Hold on” Nicole shook her head and fell back against her chair again. She stared at the man, still not really sure what he was going on about. She had way more questions now than she had when she had stormed into the room. “You need to start from the beginning here.”

 

Nedley nodded and moved to sit back in his chair. He was still smiling, which was creepy considering Nicole had seen him smile maybe one other time in her life. “In your dream, you saw me that night didn’t you?”

 

Nicole blinked and gave her head a confused nod “I mean you were really young but yeah it was you.”

 

He laughed softly “That was the night you were placed in my care.”

 

Nicole shook her head again, her brows creasing together as she tried to understand what he was saying “Wait you know my parents? Why did they give me up?”

 

“Not parents” He waved that idea to the side and shook his head. He drew in a deep breath and thought for a moment how he was going to explain it. After thirty years in a town filled with the unexplained and having to cover it up you would think he would be good at putting it in terms that were easy to understand. He licked his lips and shrugged “You were sent here, to Earth, by what I guess humans would call angels.”

 

Nicole looked dumbfounded. She blinked just once then stared at the man in front of her. Her mind was whirling now. She had no idea where to even attempt to begin to ask questions.

 

“You are pure good, Nicole. You are everything this world needs to be a better place. Your moral compass is perfectly dialed. You are the balance to all that is evil in this world.” He smiled warmly now. When he saw that Nicole still looked stunned he kept going. “There’s a reason I came and brought you to Purgatory. You are here to save the people here.”

 

Nicole opened her mouth to speak but stopped. She blinked and her brow knitted together in a frown. She shook her head and let out a sigh before mumbling “No the Earps kill the demons.”

 

“No, the Earps kill the demon spirits of the men and women their great uncle Wyatt killed” Nedley said matter of factly as he settled back against his chair again. He pointed at Nicole and nodded “You are here for everything else that lives in this town.”

 

“What?” Nicole blurted out and shook her head. She stood now from her chair and started to pace back and forth as she tried to wrap her mind around it. “No that doesn’t make sense. I haven’t killed a single demon since getting here. It’s been Wynonna and Waves and the BBD and…” She let out a heavy breath and looked at Nedley now with desperation in her eyes “This doesn’t make sense.”

 

“Sit down, Nicole” Nedley said calmly, motioning to the chair she had just vacated.

 

“No” She said firmly, folding her arms in front of her. “No, I need answers. This isn’t making any sense at all.”

 

Nedley sighed. Nicole was smart and practical and he had guessed she would have been a little hesitant to believe all of this even though she was pretty open minded as far as the paranormal goings on in the town had been concerned. He motioned for her to sit again and when she didn’t he gave in and started talking “First of all I want to make it clear that I am not your father. I am your guardian. I didn’t abandon you or whatever you might be thinking. Like I said, everything in your life has happened on purpose.”

 

Nicole eyed Nedley carefully. She stared at him for a few moments and once she decided he seemed to be telling the truth she moved to sit back down in her chair.

 

Nedley gave a nod at that, knowing her had her attention now, and continued. “The night you were given to me I was given a bunch of instructions. It was almost like a manual” He chuckled softly at the thought before shaking it off and continuing “You were going to grow up and rid this place of evil” He motioned around them to indicate Purgatory. “But first you had to be tested. Your character had to be tried. Most importantly you couldn’t know what you really were until I felt you were ready.”

 

“So I’m an angel?” Nicole offered, perking an eyebrow in questioning.

 

“No” Nedley said with a laugh. “I’m an angel. Your guardian angel. You are…” He paused, trying again to find an explanation that would make sense. He let out a sigh and waved a hand to the side “There’s not really a word for it where we come from. I guess most simply put you are Good.”

 

“I’m good?” Nicole threw her hands in the air. That didn’t help at all. “I. Am. Good.” She emphasized every word as she spoke it. She shook her head and let out a laugh “I know I’m good, Nedley. I’ve done nothing in my entire life that wasn’t good. I have been the epitome of good every day of my life.”

 

“Exactly” He pointed at her and nodded. “You are Good. The Good. You are pure and you are innocent and you are love.” He smiled at the last word, giving her a slight nod “My Hell if you aren’t filled with more love than I have ever seen in my life.”

 

Nicole grunted in frustration and stood up again “This isn’t helping! I am so confused to what this all means!”

 

Nedley let out a sigh and nodded “You are here to put to rest the evil that lives here.”

 

“Got it” Nicole said with a roll of her eyes. “But that literally explains nothing. What about my dead beat criminal of a father? What about my grandmother?”

 

“He wasn’t your father” Nedley said calmly and once more motioned for Nicole to sit down. “He was a test. One of the many that you endured in your life. You were put with him as a young, impressionable child. We had to see how you would react. We had to test the purity of your soul. We had to see how much good you actually possessed and if it could be corrupted.”

 

“What?” Nicole blinked rapidly, as if the words coming from his mouth were insane. She shook her head and threw her hands up with a grunt. “This is crazy. You’re crazy.”

 

“Sit down, Nicole” Nedley said calmly.

 

“You need to stop telling me to sit down!” Nicole punched the top of the chair Nedley was motioning too and looked at him with a glare. “This makes absolutely no sense. You’re telling me my entire childhood was a test? Some sort of sick, twisted game for whoever the WE you are talking about is? It makes no sense.”

 

“Calm down” Nedley opted for that now instead of telling her to sit down. “I know it’s a lot to take in and I know it seems crazy but it’s the truth. You are salvation, Nicole. That isn’t something that is taken lightly. We had to make sure you would be ready when the time came.”

 

Nicole closed her eyes and pushed her fingers against her closed lids. She drew in a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She gave herself a few moments to take it all in. She processed. After a minute of just standing there breathing, she let out a heavy sigh and opened her eyes again. She looked over at Nedley and moved to sit in the chair again. “Okay, let’s just say I believe all of this. I have so many questions.”

 

Nedley nodded and motioned with his hand for her to go ahead.

 

“If all of it was a test, to see how good I really was, then why is it that you say I passed when I let the man that murdered my grandmother run free?” Nicole shrugged in distress at that. It had haunted her all of her life.

 

“It showed many things about you” Nedley started calmly. “Your loyalty to family. Even if the woman who had adopted you had showed you more love than that man, you still had that instinct to protect your blood. You had internal conflict of doing the right thing versus protecting family. It showed the depth of the human emotions that you had learned in your life.”

 

“And I passed?” Nicole asked with a shake of her head. “He murdered someone. I shouldn’t have let him go.”

 

“You didn’t” Nedley said with a shake of his head. “You got justice. You atoned for that night. You eventually stopped him. You realized that doing the right thing will always be most important regardless of who has done the wrong thing. You learned that protecting someone is not always the best thing to do. You also learned that the next time someone in your life did something wrong you would not hesitate to correct them or stop them. That is important.”

 

Nicole’s gut was churning. She felt sick. All of her internal struggle. All of the guilt she had lived with. It had all been a stupid test? So she could be the great protector of a town full of people she didn’t even know? It didn’t make sense.

 

Nedley could see Nicole processing everything. He cleared his throat and spoke softly to try and make her feel better “Your grandmother wasn’t human.”

 

“What?” Nicole’s voice trembled. Her brow creased and she immediately looked like she was going to cry.

 

“She was one of us” He said with a gentle nod. “She was placed there to guide you but also for the sole purpose of dying in front of you. It was all a part of it.”

 

Nicole clenched her jaw and turned away from Nedley. She drew in a deep breath and wiped a tear that had pushed out of her eye. Everything in her life had been a lie. She shook her head and looked back at the man with a glare on her face now. She was angry. Nothing in her life had been real. “And me becoming a cop?”

 

“That was you” Nedley said with a quick nod. “That was a choice you made of your own free will. It showed us your merit. It showed us you were committed to being good and making a difference in the world. That is how we knew you were on the right path.”

 

Still upset but wanting to push forward, Nicole shrugged “And when did you know I was ready?”

 

“You aren’t” Nedley said softly. “Not yet. But you will be soon. You figuring out I held answers is a big step in that. That is why I brought you here. The night you shot your father and brought him in was when I knew you were ready to come to Purgatory to finish your training.”

 

“Training?” Nicole asked with a shake of her head.

 

“The Earps” Nedley smiled softly. “Black Badge. Everything you’ve included yourself in since you arrived. It’s all a part of it. Because once the Earps are finished and all 77 of their demons are put to rest they will be done here. That is when you will take over.”

 

Nicole’s gut twisted so tight she thought she might be sick. The Earps weren’t real? Waverly? She shut her eyes and drew in a deep breath, fighting off a new wave of tears. She wouldn’t believe it. She couldn’t. What she felt with Waverly was more real than she had ever felt anything else in her life.

 

“You found them on your own a lot more quickly than I thought you would” Nedley continued, seeing Nicole once more struggling to take everything in. “I was impressed, actually.”

 

Nicole let out a huff and her eyes came open. There was pain painted all over her features as her voice trembled when she spoke “They’re just pawns?”

 

“No” Nedley said with a quick shake of her head. “They would be here regardless. It’s their destiny to do what they are doing. At least, it’s Wynonna’s. It just so happened that Waverly never left town.” He smiled softly at that. He really liked the youngest Earp girl. “They’ve been doing this for centuries, their family I mean. They’d be here fighting off demons without you, and they have been. We have been waiting for you for longer than you think. The Revenants may come and go with each new Heir but the other demons have been wreaking havoc consistently for hundreds of years now. No one has been able to stop them. No one until you.”

 

“Why me?” Nicole said with a shake of her head. “What’s so special about me?”

 

“You’re just…” He motioned, trying to think about how to explain it again. There was a lot of unspoken understandings where he came from that he was now trying to put into human terms. He shrugged finally and relented a soft “….you’re the one.”

 

“The one?” Nicole perked an eyebrow.

 

“The Good. The love. The pure. The one that will end the evil. We’ve been waiting for you.”

 

“We?” Nicole turned her hands palms up in a sort of a shrug, indicating she still had no idea what he meant.

 

“We” He shrugged nonchalantly. “The other good beings. Good versus Evil is a battle that has raged since the dawn of time, essentially. There are good beings and there are evil ones. Evil tends to manifest in the form of what humans like to call ghosts or demons. Monsters and stuff akin to that. Good manifests in angels and gods and spirits or whatever other things humans see as good.”

 

“So where do humans land on this good versus evil scale?” Nicole asked with a bit of tired confusion.

 

“Good, generally” Nedley said with a nod. “There are a lot of bad people on Earth but most still land on the side of Good when it comes down to it.”

 

Nicole nodded slightly. She took a moment to think over her next question. It was eating at her. It was tearing her apart. She had to know. “Waverly?” The single word was all she managed to choke out.

 

“Good” Nedley said quickly. “Great, actually. Very pure. Human” He nodded at that. “Also, just so you know, when I said the Earps were part of your training I did not mean they were placed here on purpose. They are very much real. They have free will, if you couldn’t tell by Wynonna’s….” He motioned his hand in a circle and laughed softly “…everything. I meant they come from a family that understands demon hunting and killing. I brought you here to learn from them so once they were done you’d be equipped to handle the rest of the goings on in Purgatory and the Ghost River triangle.”

 

Nicole had never felt more relief in her life. She let out a breath she had not been aware she was holding. She felt herself tremble and before she could fight it, there were tears streaming down her face. She nodded a few times as she wiped at her cheeks, giving Nedley a soft smile “Really?”

 

“Oh yeah” The man said with a wide grin. “What you and Waverly share is absolutely real. Your free will and her free will are completely in charge there. That had nothing to do with us” He sat back, lifting his hands up to indicate he had been completely uninvolved. “What you two have is more real than I’ve ever seen. And if I’m being frank…” He leaned forward now, dropping his voice a bit before speaking next “I think it’s only helping your progress.” He gave her a wink then sat back in his chair.

 

Nicole nodded quickly at that. She wiped at the few tears that had continued to spill out of her eyes. She drew in a deep breath and let it out softly before clearing her throat and straightening up in her chair. She licked her lips and after composing herself she asked seriously “So now what?”

 

“Now you train” Nedley said with a shrug.

 

“That’s it?” Nicole asked softly, almost disappointed at that.

 

“That’s it” He confirmed with a nod. “You continue your work in town. You learn what the Earps are doing. You study and you learn about all the demons out there. You prepare yourself.”

 

Nicole looked a little sad. She thought it all over for a moment and shrugged “You mean to tell me that I’m some sort of…” She shrugged, turning her hand over in circles as she tried to find the right words. She finally settled on “…being of goodness sent here to destroy all evil and I don’t even have any supernatural powers?”

 

Nedley let out a soft laugh and his head gave a bit of a shake “Your power is your pureness. Evil doesn’t stand a chance.”

 

Nicole let out a puff of disappointed air and plopped back against her chair. She frowned and gave her head a shake before mumbling “Now I really wish I was a werewolf.”

 

“Werewolves are inherently good” Nedley said with a smile. He stood up from where he sat now and moved around his desk toward Nicole. He put a hand on her shoulder and gave it a soft squeeze “You’re doing great, kid. Keep learning.” He tapped his nose and gave her a wink before reaching for his office door.

 

Nicole perked an eyebrow curiously at that. The way he looked at her just then hinted that maybe she did have supernatural powers. She just had to find them. It was a good thing she had a brilliant girlfriend who had a knack for discovering shit like that. She stood from her chair and when she was face to face with Nedley she gave a nod “Thanks.”

 

“It’s my job” He said with an almost shy shrug. “Now, get back to work. That paperwork isn’t going to file itself.”

 

“Are you kidding me?” Nicole’s jaw dropped.

 

Nedley shrugged and it seemed he was back to his old grumpy self. He motioned to her desk and nodded “It’s waiting.”

 

Nicole let out a huff and turned to leave. She could not believe after all of that he was going to pretend that she was still human. She could not wait to find out her super power and use it on him, just once. She hoped it was lightening or something. She wanted to give his ass a little shock.

 

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

 

“Wait, so are you an angel?” Waverly blinked once in surprise then cocked her head to the side to examine her girlfriend’s face as if a clue to the answer would suddenly appear now that she had just been told everything Nedley had told Nicole.

 

Nicole gave a shrug at that as she fought off a smirk of amusement at the look of confusion on Waverly’s face “No, not really?” She sighed and shook her head “Your guess is as good as mine. I feel like that is a gray area that Nedley refused to go into. As far as I know I wasn’t exactly born into existence, or even on Earth, but I don’t possess like any supernatural powers…” She frowned at that and looked down at her hands in disappointment.

 

Waverly thought about it for a moment with a blank stare on her face. There was so much information to process. She gave a single nod after a moment of thought then smiled “Well if you ask me I think you are most definitely an angel.”

 

“Thanks” Nicole gave her girlfriend a dreamy little smile at that. It was amazing that Waverly was so calm and accepting of everything she had just dumped on her. She was still having trouble processing it herself but Waverly seemed to just get it and be okay with it all.

 

“So what exactly are you supposed to do now?” Waverly asked from where she had been standing in Nicole’s kitchen, putting together some food for the two of them since neither of them had eaten at all that day.

 

“Train, I guess?” Nicole offered a half shrug from where she was sprawled out on her couch. She watched Waverly move around her kitchen with a little smile on her lips. “You know you are extraordinarily calm about all of this.”

 

Waverly glanced up at Nicole with a little smile on her lips before looking back down to what she was doing. “I have studied ancient languages, various dead religions, mythology, and more old world history than you probably would believe exists. The mention of other worldly beings happens more than most history buffs like to admit.” She shrugged and glanced back at Nicole with a nod “My family has fought demons for generations. Honestly, the only thing that surprises me these days is when someone is normal.”

 

Nicole sat up on her couch now with a laugh. She motioned to what Waverly was doing and smiled “Normal like you being so completely domesticated that you insist on feeding me regularly?”

 

Waverly rolled her eyes but let out a laugh anyway “Something like that, yeah.” She finished what she was doing and moved out of the kitchen now. She held two plates, a sandwich on each, as she moved over to the couch. She sat next to Nicole and handed her over one while she kept the other for herself “Maybe this is my way of holding onto reality, you know?”

 

Nicole nodded, understanding all too well the yearning to hold onto realty. She picked up her sandwich and glanced at Waverly with a smile “For what it’s worth, I’d trade lazy Sundays and sandwiches with you over all of this Good versus Evil stuff any day.”

 

“Unfortunately for you” Waverly smiled, lifting her hand to boop Nicole on the nose over enthusiastically “You haven’t got a choice in the matter.”

 

“Which blows” Nicole said with her nose crinkling in disliking of that statement. She took a bite of her sandwich and chewed it over slowly as her mind raced. She was honestly still processing it all. There was so much still unanswered but she assumed the answers would come when she was, as Nedley had put it, ready for it.

 

After swallowing the bite she had been chewing on, she glanced back to Waverly and shook her head “You know what blows the hardest? I don’t even have any supernatural abilities!”

 

Waverly giggled around her mouthful of food and shook her head in amusement.

 

“I’m serious. I’m apparently the be all and end all of Evil here and I don’t even get to like…” Nicole shook her head then thrust her hand forward a few times as if trying to make it turn on.

 

Waverly swallowed her food and laughed again as she reached out to take Nicole’s thrusting hand “Maybe you’re not ready for your powers?”

 

Nicole curled her lip up at the corner and shook her head “Nedley was pretty unclear about that, too. I mean, I’m the Savior of the Ghost River Triangle, you’d think I’d get powers.” She let out a disappointed sigh and looked at the other hand that Waverly wasn’t holding onto “Or at least a really cool gun.”

 

Waverly gave Nicole’s hand a squeeze where she held it before lifting it to her lips and kissing just once against her fingers “If you ask me I think your hands are pretty magical already.”

 

Nicole glanced at Waverly and though she was trying to keep pouting in disappointment it was pretty hard to do when those eyes were shining over at her and saying things like that. She bit at her lips and leaned over to place the smallest kiss to her girlfriend’s cheek before she whispered against her ear “I hope you always feel that way.”

 

Waverly bit her lip at the feel of Nicole’s warm breath against her skin. A shiver danced along her spine and she had to clear her throat to push down the sensations rising in her stomach. She nodded just once and let go of Nicole’s hand “I don’t see a time where that opinion will ever change.”

 

“Good” Nicole gave a playful growl and nipped at Waverly’s ear just once before she pulled back from her altogether. She reached for her sandwich again and the two of them fell into a silence as they both ate.

 

It wasn’t a long silence and after Waverly composed herself she cleared her throat to speak again “So what can I help with?”

 

Nicole wiped at her mouth with a napkin then glanced at Waverly with a shrug “Again, Nedley was vague. He said to keep learning. I assume that means lots of long nights studying different demons and what their weaknesses are?” She glanced at Waverly and a smirk came to her lips “I guess that means you and I are study buddies. Think you can handle that?”

 

“I don’t know that might be absolutely terrible” Waverly tried to sound uninterested but her smile was hard to hide.

 

Nicole rolled her eyes and gave her girlfriend a nudge with her shoulder. She let out a sigh and sat back against the couch now that her food was gone. She reached forward and let her hand moved up and down Waverly’s back lightly as her mind raced. She was still kind of in shock over it all. She didn’t know if this was real or an elaborate prank that Nedley was playing as some sort of sick initiation ritual. She did, after all, have no proof that what he had told her was true.

 

She sat up again and looked over to Waverly with a shrug as she spoke seriously now “How do you do it? How do you just…” She sighed and shook her head slightly “…believe all of this blindly? How are you so cool with all of this? Not just me but the Revenants and Doc being Doc Holliday and all of that.”

 

Waverly just shrugged. She turned to face Nicole a little better, reaching out to take a hold of both of her girlfriend’s hands. She offered her a soft smile “My entire life I’ve believed that there was something better out there for me. I have always known that I was meant for something greater than serving drunks at Shorty’s or being the popular nice girl in town that everyone liked. I never wanted to limit myself and I think that is why I was always studying and learning something new. And now…” She bit her lip almost shyly, nodding just once as she stared at Nicole intensely “..here you are.”

 

Nicole had to fight off a blush. The corner of her lips flickered into a half smile and her chin dipped slightly. The way Waverly spoke to her just then was almost too much. She wasn’t sure how she had gotten so lucky. She drew in a deep breath and brought her eyes back to meet Waverly’s still intense gaze. She licked at her lips and let out a happy sigh “I won the destiny lottery when it comes to you.”

 

Waverly gave a single nod and grinned at that “You know, I feel the exact same way about you.”

 

Nicole shook her head and leaned in, lifting her hand to cup at Waverly’s face as she pressed a soft kiss to her lips. It was tender but that didn’t take away any intensity from it. She meant it. She felt that no matter what her future held, as long as Waverly was by her side, she could accomplish anything.

 

As the kiss broke, Waverly let out a happy sigh. She smiled gently when Nicole’s eyes came open to meet hers again. Her fingers moved now to brush some of Nicole’s short bangs from her eyes then slowly let her touch move along her cheek “You don’t ever have to do this alone, okay? Even after Wynonna puts down the last Revenant I will be here.”

 

“You don’t have to-”

 

“I want to” Waverly cut her off quickly. She drew in a deep breath as her eyes moved around Nicole’s face, taking in her soft but strong features. A smile came to her lips and she nodded just once “As long as you want me, I’ll be by your side.”

 

Nicole felt herself tremble. Her entire body warmed at the words. She had spoken them to Waverly not too long ago and had meant them with every fiber of her being. Hearing them back to her now, she knew without a doubt Waverly meant them just as deeply as she had meant them herself. She gave a slight nod and bit her lips before she breathed out a whisper “I want you forever.”

 

“Then I’m yours” Waverly whispered softly, her hand sliding slowly along Nicole’s cheek. Her eyes never once left Nicole’s and she gave a firm nod. “Til demons do us part.”

 

Nicole let out a bit of a laugh but quickly drew in a deep breath to compose herself. She felt herself on the verge of tears. Waverly was the most incredible being she had ever met and regardless of what Nedley had told her she was absolutely positive Waverly was actually her guardian angel. She nodded once more and touched a kiss to Waverly’s forehead before pulling back just slightly “Even if I never get my powers?”

 

Waverly let out a breath of a laugh and gave a single nod “If you are human until the day you die I will still be by your side. I promise.”

 

“Good” Nicole gave her a playful wink then moved to wrap her arms around her girlfriend. She held her in a tight embrace and let out a happy sigh. Through everything she had discovered that day she still felt completely normal. Ready for anything. She knew it was because she had Waverly. She turned her head to kiss Waverly on the cheek then released her from the hug. As she pulled back, she looked down at her hands again. She studied her palms then gave them both a few firm flicks. When nothing happened she let out a heavy sigh of disappointment then glanced at Waverly with a crooked smile on her lips “Maybe one day.”

 

“Maybe” Waverly grabbed both hands, wrapping her fingers around them tightly. She smirked and leaned closer to Nicole so she could whisper against her ear “Until then, I’m happy to be the only one taking advantage of your magic hands.”

 

Nicole closed her eyes and swallowed hard. There were butterflies flipping around inside her stomach. She didn’t care what anyone said, Waverly was the magic one in this relationship. She turned her head and brushed her lips against her girlfriend’s cheek and gave a single nod before whispering back “Let’s go see how much magic they have today, shall we?”

 

Waverly let out a low, throaty laugh. She pulled back from Nicole, stood from the couch, and pulled on her girlfriend’s hands that she still held tightly. She perked an eyebrow as Nicole stood and chewed her lip gently “I thought you’d never ask.”


End file.
